DSS taking over OPM. Restarting TS Background Investigation from Scratch?

SECURITY CLEARANCE Q&A
#1

Quick Question

I was on a DoD Contract which started in Nov 2015 and that ended Feb 2018.

During that time i had an interim secret clearance and a TS investigation was opened. (OPEN SSBI + An Interim Secret)

due to the OPM hack that occured the investigation was slowed down significantly but the interviewing didn’t really begin between 2017 and 2018.

During that time my entire family and co-workers was interviewed by OPM NBIB investigators. but the contract ended for me in Feb 2018 with the investigation still open.

when i left the DoD contract i had a ‘loss of jurisdiction’ issue as well in JPAS and an RUU had to be resubmitted to continue.

I quickly found a new job with a new company which offered to pick up the OPEN SSBI investigation and add me into their cage code. they put my on a contract that only requires public trust while my investigation continues.

However, the FSO at my new company didn’t follow up with with DSS regularly enough with regards to my RUU being submitted and DSS told the FSO that i had to submit a ‘new’ SF86 f.

My question is - since DSS is now taken over by OPM and i’m starting a new SF-86

does this mean that ‘new’ interivews need to be conducted with the same people again?

does my entire family needs to be interviewed again?

any body with experience with this type of thing? my FSO is not sure about what DSS will do.

i hope and pray that DSS will just take the data collected previously by OPM NBIB investigators and add it to the new SF-86 and just interivew me and my current co-workers and my current job.

i don’t mind the submitting a new SF-86 but the exhaustive process of interviewing my entire family and old co-workers is just scaring me.

i’m really nervous about this issue.

any feedback would be appreciated.

#2

Here’s my opinion: NBIB is moving in its entirety from OPM to DoD. They should be taking all their files with them. That should include all the notes and records from the previous investigation.

Now, I suppose there might be some circumstances where they would need to revisit an interview anyway but hopefully those are minor.

I would certainly hope that interviews less than about two years old would still be valid. Maybe need an update with current employer if it has been a while… but what is your neighbor or former coworker going to say that is significantly different?

Just my two cents. From a non-investigator, I should point out.

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#3

There should be no interruption in service or record keeping when NBIB is moved to DoD.

Unfortunately, your situation will depend on how the case is presented to NBIB/DSS by your employer/requesting agency. If your case is submitted as a new case - most everything will be redone (everything is two years old). If your case is reopened as a RSI case - only the uncompleted parts will be worked. The second option means your five years starts with the original schedule date.

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#4

@backgdinvestigator

Thanks for the reply. it is a sad turn of events then. I guess I keep running into bad luck.

the OPM hack slowed my investigation down in the first place.

the last time i met with an NBIB Investigator was January/Feb. 2018. but all the data is thrown out for sure cause a ‘new’ sf-86 has been submitted?

#5

I would say whatever is on file and in scope will be used.

#6

@amberbunny

Wow really? In-scope? what does in-scope mean actually?

#7

Ah yes, the famous hack… originally said to be limited to contractors but soon we learned the truth.

I was working for a contractor at the time, some people were not affected, but I guess if your case was at a certain point (or not yet at a certain point) people had to start all over again with a fresh eQIP/SF-86

And some other agencies abandoned the eQIP entirely for a time bringing back standalone forms… which did not remember any of your previous inputs, like eQIP does. Kinda.

There was a thing a few months ago where robo-calls in Chinese were getting a lot of attention. I said relax, its just Beijing calling to let us know its time for our five-year update :disappointed_relieved:

#8

Yeah. i had to re-submit my SF-86 on Jan. 9th. 2019. Just to give a timeline

  1. Nov. 2015 - SF-86 Initiated under a DOD contract.
  2. Mar. 2017 - First Interview with an NBIB Investigator. Family, Friends were contacted interviewed
  3. Dec. 2017 - Follow up Interview with 2nd NBIB Investigator cause 1st interviewer made errors. more family members were interviewed.
  4. Jan. 2018 - Short follow up interview with new NBIB Investigator over the phone.
  5. Feb. 2018 - Contract Ends.
  6. March 2018 - loss of jurisdiction due to not being on DoD contract anymore.

FSO at new employer did not follow up enough with NBIB/DSS so that my Ruu could continue. Despite the CEO at my new company saying that the FSO told him that i was in their cage code. so abit of negligence.

i’m having to submit a SF-86 in Jan. 9th to the now DSS / Controlled OPM.

I will not be surprised when i find out that the info collected on me is ‘out-of-scope’ and that i need to start over. i’ll get interviewed Dec 2019 probably. It will take forever.

i’ve had nothing but horrible luck during this whole process. it’s one setback after another. it just sucks.

thank you to everyone who gave their perspective. atleast i know what is ahead.

#9

Whatever parts of the BI are still within dates not requiring update. In theory, this shortens clearance and reclearance times if parts of the BI are still within the dates allowed.

#10

what is the time allowed? is that like 2 years? is that the ‘out of scope’ aspect? 2 years and then its useless info?

by March/April 2019 it will have been two years.

the original interviewing happened in 2017. and finished up in Dec 2017/Jan 2018.

#11

A couple of points no one else has spoken to.

First, the delays are not just due to the hacking. Trouble began when USIS was let go. Simply not enough investigators and the other companies could not pick up the slack for OPM fast enough. Huge backlog since. Many former USIS investigators decided not to sign on with the other companies. Just didn’t want to do OPM work anymore. Those were cleared people. Not that easy to replace. The replacements who were hired and had no clearance coming in the door now also needed to be investigated and added to the backlog.

As to the information gathered initially, (interviews, records), from the government side, if USG received it, it doesn’t get thrown away. Over time it might become out of scope, but it still exists. Question is does it fall within the scope of the investigation adjudication is going to require.

Lastly, you mentioned a couple of times that many of your family members were interviewed. That’s surprising since there are fairly strict guidelines as to who the sources may be in a BI. Family members are in fact last resort. Absent some issue of concern, family members cannot be used to satisfy coverage requirements. In the old days, family members could be interviewed for issues that a family member is the best source to resolve the issue; or coverage for a family owned business related employment, or in instances to involving unemployment. Lately, I cannot use a family member to cover unemployment. The prohibition against using family members is obvious since assumption is that family members are more often than not favorably biased and also to prevent investigators from doing lower quality investigations. Don’t know if your investigation was also slowed down because the agency won’t accept an investigation where the investigator tried to take the easy way out by getting the required headcount of sources by interviewing family members all too willing to make themselves available.

I’ve done BI work for OPM, Homeland Security, and DoD for 18 years. I wish you well. Unfortunate that so many are caught up in the process complicated by the USG having decided to try outsourcing this activity rather than just reorganizing within the government agencies involved originally. Most are good people. Doesn’t help that more effort seems to go into micromanaging the investigators rather than actually backing them up. Good luck.

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#12

Tom,

Great points. Any chance you have an email to OPM to see if they can see if my packet is the system, please? I am current holder for a DOD S, approved for a contracting position that will required a DOS S. SF 86 complete and submitted. I know these things can be a minute, just wanted to know if anyone can see it beside my security officer.

Thank you for your time!

-ID-

#13

Not sure if Dept of State uses OPM for contractor clearances. I know they do their own BI’s for direct hire employees.

Some of the IC agencies do their own BI’s for direct hire but use OPM for contractors (while doing their own adjudication… I think).

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