Hi all, been a while but glad to have some happy news. Got word that my case was finally successfully adjudicated I have some more detail on a previous (locked) post, but to give a short rundown, I’m a mid 30s DoD civilian. For a quick timeline:
2009 – Initial secret clearance granted.
~Sep-17 - Marijuana usage (one puff from cigarette)
Sep-18 - Marijuana usage (one edible gummy)
Feb-19 - Filled out SF-86 for PR. Was honest about everything.
Jun-19 - Received word from local security that they were considering suspending my access. Filled out an SF-86C going into more detail as well as getting a lot of reference letters from current/former supervisors/coworkers as well as some personal friends (some of whom were veterans/active duty who had held clearance). Case was resolved successfuly at a local level.
Jul-19 - Meeting with investigator via phone. Spoke both about marijuana usage as well as foreign issues (my spouse is not a US citizen from an allied nation, as well as all the other foreign contacts that come from that, including family that works for the local government there, as well as a good amount of foreign travel). Very polite and easy to talk to.
Aug-19 - Investigation close and moved to adjudication. As far as I know no references contacted.
Sep-20 - SOR issued. I was unaware of this but my local security did have a meeting with the current CO about the possibility of suspending my access. Like before, this was resolved in my favor.
Nov-20 - SOR received. Got a reputable clearance attorney as well as got a few updated reference letters. I had about 20-30 letters intially, they wanted me to pare it down a bit (I guess at a certain point the CAF would get an understanding of my character so no need to go overboard). They also had me highlight some mitigating issues. Don’t want to get too specific but I did have some family issues that could fall under “circumstances” that were “unlikely to recur or does not cast doubt on the individual’s current reliability, trustworthiness, or good judgment”. Also signed a statement of intent.
Submitted a FOIA request for my investigation as well. Took about a week or two to come in. I noted on the form that was urgent due to the SOR. My attorney did note that as everything is digital now these do tend to come in faster.
Dec-20 - Response submitted.
Apr-21 - Notice of successfull adjudication received.
So that’s it I guess. I’ll have to mark “Yes” to the “Have you ever used while holding a clearance” question but hopefully future reinvestigations should go smoother given these events (as well as the fact that I will not be using again of course). Not the most fun two year period of my life but my local security was very encouraging and having reviewed all the DOHA cases for the past 4 years my odds seemed statistically good at least given my specific circumstances. Glad it all worked out. I guess I don’t really have any advice (besides the obvious “don’t do drugs”) other than be honest… based off DOHA cases lying (as well as frequent usage) seemed to be the number one reason for rejection.
Happy to answer questions if anyone has them.