Omission on SF-86

Hello,

I am a college student about to graduate with a job offer lined up in the civilian sector that requires a security clearance. I applied for a previous job that in the process gave me a secret clearance and in pure recklessness put no under drug use for the SF-86 application. for the most part I’m a pretty clean and straight forward person with no real drug use and don’t drink alcohol either except for smoking pot once at a party in college before my security clearance, and have not smoked and barely drank since. I feel extremely guilty for lying and I was thinking if I come clean before my first renewal about my one time use I could possibly mitigate the lie. What can I do?

Just fess up at your interview and realize that your change of heart indicates maturity and life experience that you did not have several years ago.

Thank you Weeble. To get your honest opinion, what are my chances of keeping my security clearance?

A lot will depend on which agency/employer you are trying to get a clearance through. Humility, remorse and honest efforts not to repeat your actions can go a long way with every organization. Some clearance granting organizations just have a more “zero defect” mentality than others and can afford to only accept unicorns and reject imperfect horses such as yourself. :slight_smile: