I recently took a job with a defense contractor (company B) with the contingency that I get a T3 Secret in “a reasonable amount of time.” I’ve held a T3 in the past (2008-2012) before leaving company A due to a downturn in work. In coming back to the defense sector, I am finding myself nervous about everything. 3.5 years ago I took a puff of marijuana recreationally while in Colorado on vacation. I have had one traffic violation over 3 years ago (moving violation) that was deferred. No history of ever being fired, violence, IS violations, or anything else of that nature. My credit report is spotless (780+) but I do have a history of a balance on my credit card totalling ~7k that I just paid off this week. My debt to income ratio is 43% (2 houses of which one is for sale) and a car loan that will be done in 2 months. Once these two items are addressed (house sale and car) my debt to income is ~17%. With all of my debt I have always paid over and on time. I know I’ve spewed a lot of information here, but I’m looking for a gauge of how nervous I really should be based on the facts.
Most government agencies in my exp(excluding IC) don’t really look at debt to income ratio, they look at are you delinquent( I think 4 months or more). The marijuana experimentation would most likely be mitigated if you admit it on your questionnaire. They will ask why you did it, who was there, will you do it again blah blah blah. If i was you, I wouldn’t be worried
The marijuana use is likely to be an issue. Not a big one but it could slow down or lengthen your processing. You would have been far, far, smarter to have not done it. At least, you weren’t cleared in 2015 since you had been out of cleared work for over two years.
The rest of what you have list is a lot of nothing . . . The only risk I see is the companies idea of “a reasonable amount of time”.
Thanks for the responses all. I agree, I shouldn’t have tried the marijuana. I rarely drink and never smoke/chew tobacco. I was honest on the SF-86, knowing that it is better to disclose use than for the investigator to uncover it themselves, and understand that my process is likely to take a bit longer than if I hadn’t. While an interim is not part of the contigency for my job, do you believe it would happen or is it likely to just skip to adjudication?
It’s not a “skip to adjudication” thing . . . an interim comes before the investigation. You’re not going to get an interim because you clearly have issues that need to be vetted and then adjudicated.