DS PSS TS Investigation

SECURITY CLEARANCE Q&A
1

Appreciate any insight from the group.

Context:
Department of State TS Investigation opened July 2nd, 2020

BI report submitted Sept 15, no investigator contact since. I was honest and transparent. Prior to, all character references and past/current employers let me know they had been contacted or interviewed. A few others I did not list, but likely sourced leads, also let me know they had been contacted.

No criminal history since 2001 (DUI dropped to reckless and fully disclosed), no drug use, credit is 840, taxes are current, solid academic record, military service spotless, and I donā€™t own anything outside of budget of someone with my income. No ties to shady domestic or international orgs, no questionable public or social media statements. Prior clearance info in DoD CAF. Family man with three kids and the wife has a clean record. My point is that I find it highly unlikely anything worthy of a lengthy adjudication or denial is out there. Whole picture should likely lean my way, whenever the case manager gets everything.

Possible issues I can think of:
A county clerk canā€™t find an arrest record from 2001.
Or
International travel (personal) to Canada listed down to the hotel, flight numbers, rental car agency, and how often I had a beer with meals. No foreign govt contact except border crossing. All other foreign travel (in scope) was under military orders. None of my lifetime travel, outside of the military, has taken me anywhere questionable.

Question:
There has been a lead out for investigation since September or longer. Itā€™s been the one thing holding it in investigations. Iā€™m obviously aware of COVID. What kind of leads could possibly take three or more months without progress?

Thanks everyone. Iā€™m sure Iā€™m not the only one who appreciates the time and expertise you give here.

2

If a ā€œlead out for investigationā€ is a request from State to some other agency (DoD?) for information on previous investigations, that can lead to a lengthy delay.

3

Thanks sbusquirrel. Wouldnā€™t that just be a check in JPAS? Nothing ā€˜squirrellyā€™ in my previous investigations. If about military service, records are digital and they could have every eval and personnel record book page in seconds.

4

Verification of previous military service, especially in guard or reserves tends to hold up investigations from closing quickly.

5

Yes they couldā€¦ but they donā€™t.

6

Marko,
Thank you for your help.
Military service verification seems like an odd thing to be an issue. We can log in and download our entire service record in under a minute. Iā€™m talking scans of our enlistment/ commissioning papers to DD-214 and EVERYTHING in between. I get why an investigator might not take copies from a subject. Why wouldnā€™t an investigator just ask us to submit a request to have it sent to them on the spot?

7

Official records for background investigations have to be requested by and sent to the investigating agency to meet requirements, plain and simple.

8

Thanks Marko. I get that.
Looking forward to DoD response so I can begin the 6+ month adjudication wait.

Anyone reading this with input into the process, I imagine there are a significant number of prior service clearances. Seems like a great way to shave 90 days of the average of most prior service cases by accessing Kansas City archives direct and free up investigators for other cases.

9

DoS TS Clearance Timeline Update:
Confirmation case moved to adjudication div; military records must have arrived.
Timeline review:
Case opened July 2
BI submitted Sept 15
Adjudication phase begins Dec 13

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