Secret Clearance fall-off/update/renewal

SECURITY CLEARANCE Q&A
1

Hopefully you can understand what I am trying to ask here…

I was awarded my TS clearance in Nov 2010 and worked for that job for 2 years (left this job Nov 2012). My next job only required a Secret clearance and I worked there from Nov 2012 - May 2017. I know the TS fell off because I wasn’t working with a job that required it. I took a new job this past May 2017 and the job only requires a Public trust. Does that mean my secret clearance will fall off in 2 years?

Also, the security officer at my new/current job (the job that I started this past May 2017) told me that my Secret clearance is up for an update come this Oct/Nov 2017 and that I would have to contact my company for the paperwork. So, when the clearance update does come around, does that mean I will not be able to have it updated because my current job only requires a Public Trust? I thought secret clearances needed to be updated every 10 years but he told me that it was now every 7 years.

If I am not able to have my Secret clearance updated this fall 2017 and I obtain a job with in the next two years (before my clearance falls off) that requires a Secret clearance, will that job do the update for me and make my clearance current?

Thanks in advance for the feedback.

2

Once you left the position that you had the clearance for you should have been debriefed and your clearance inactivated. Reinvestigation timeline for all clearances are now 5 years, although DoD has not yet implemented this change. Public Trust positions are also every 5 years, so you will have to complete some type of background investigation regardless. If you move into a position requiring a clearance most likely you will undergo a new investigation to meet current standards.

3

Marko I was under the impression that if I left the DOD/ US Army on 3/2014 in which I worked as a contractor, my Secret clearance was good for 10 years was I wrong

4

An agency or other cleared contractor can use your last investigation to request a clearance under reciprocity if it closed within the last five years and you have do not have more than 24 months since you last held an active clearance.