I received an interim secret with DoD as contractor 7-8 months ago. I was able to start working with the interim. Had interview with investigator, and it was Very thorough. Basically went over every single question on SF86 and all my responses in detail. Only thing that came up that was not on SF86 was a misdemeanor DUI conviction from 11 years ago. I admitted that I thought it was out of scope and had not included it for that reason, though admitted I kind of thought that I had included it anyway to be safe, and was surprised I had omitted it. Investigator seemed ok with this, but interviewed me a second time anyway. I have a couple arrests which did not result in conviction, ie: charges dropped, and all my āissuesā are around 9-11 years ago. I provided as much detail as possible and all info provided with utmost honesty to the best of my memory/knowledge. Regardless, I am still really anxious in regards to my final clearance. I really like the work I do and I relocated for my job. How concerned should I really be? I donāt know if I am needlessly worrying, or if I should be focused on creating a backup plan in case I lose my job in the event of a final denial?
I just looked at the SF-86 and you have to be very careful with the āHave you EVERā questions, and it looks like one of them is āHave you EVER been charged with a crime involving alcohol?ā So it sounds like you failed to answer that question accurately, which could be an area of concern.
I donāt know if it really matters, but did the investigator bring up this DUI which was not listed? That might be a little worse than if you admitted it yourself.
This may be a problem because they take it very seriously when a person fails to fill out the form accurately. It tends to give the impression that you may be intentionally trying to hide something. On the other hand, it may be in your favor that this event took place 11 years ago.
I donāt know if you are out of the woods yet. Whats worse it is will likely not be resolved soon.
The investigator brought it up. I did not think to bring it up. I expressed that I did not mean to leave it off the form, saying I thought it was out of scope and did not realize it was a āhave you everā question. I also kind of forget about it, since it has been a long time (11 years) and only resulted in some fines. I expressed my regret for not having included it on the form, saying I do not have a problem disclosing it, but that I was attempting to fill out the form accurately, and believing most questions to have a 10 year scope, included 10 years of history. I will say I even disclosed things that I either did not think I had to, given the scope, and do not think came up had I not brought them up myself, so hopefully that is taken into consideration as well. The investigator even said they had to double-check, thinking initially it was out of scope (the DUI) and that it was an easy mistake to make. Investigator said it would only be a problem if it seemed I had intentionally tried to hide it, but seemed to believe I had not done so intentionally and that it was an honest mistake. Though who knows how they will report it?
I suppose if the adjudication is going to take a while, then I can at least start saving money to get through a period of having to change jobs.
In my opinion - it happened 11 years ago, itās a non-issue (good). You admitted to it when confronted (also good). You forgot to list it on SF-86 because you thought it was outside the 10 year scope (kinda bad considering the question clearly asks āeverā).
If all else is good - using whole person and applying mitigation you should be cleared.
The wording of that section is troubling and we lost a senior manager for not listing a DUI the judge dismissed. They looked at it as a lack of candor situation and those are viewed harshly. If all your incidents were 10 plus years and you lived a great life sinceā¦I would say time is in your favor. But only you know how you lived your life. Is your credit score well above average? That helps as it speaks to living a more responsible life, making better choices, and playing by the rules. I make clear to people answer them all to 10 years unless it says have you EVER. In that case even if you were 7, report it. Over report, do not under report. I have seen a few people claim they forgot an arrest. I find that deceptive. But on that part of the form it is easy to get confused on what rule set applies.
You should be fine, I also messed up with the wording of the question and didnāt list a DUI from 8 years ago but disclosed it during my interview with the investigator. It wonāt be a deal breaker for you, what theyāll be concerned about with any DUIās are what are your drinking habits now? If you drink responsibly or donāt drink at all now then you should be fine.