Section 11 Mistake

A few days ago my best friend had his clearance denied, only a few days after processing so it was a big shock for him. He has no clue what could have happened. However, I am currently also in the process of filling out my questionnaire and I asked him who he used as the “person who knows you at this address” for the dorm we lived in during study abroad. To my surprise, he told me that he didn’t use anyone that I knew but one of his high school friends. In other words, someone who most definitely did not know him at this address.

Could this be a reason for denial? He interpreted the question as meaning anyone who knew he lived there, which was obviously a silly error. The person he listed hasn’t even been to the country where we studied abroad, to make matters worse.

I did confirm to the investigator that he lived there since we both studied abroad together, but would this error on his SF86 be enough for a denial?

No, there’s definitely something else going on.

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By “a few days after processing” do you mean a few days after he submitted his SF86?

If so, this wasn’t a security clearance denial. It was a suitability denial. They reviewed his SF86 and decided that problematic past events in his life–drug use, criminal activity, foreign travel/contacts, etc.–were too recent or not mitigated enough for them to continue with him through the process. It sounds like his investigation was never actually started.

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It was around 10 days after his polygraph. The investigator had met with me around the same time but hadn’t talked to anyone else afaik. It definitely wasn’t a suitability denial because that was my first thought so I made him read the letter again very carefully.

Thanks for the response!

If you are the only person who was interviewed and no other sources were interviewed and it was a TS investigation then the investigation never made it to adjudication. The investigation portion was not completed. A TS requires more than one source interview. There would be interviews from employments, residence, possibly education, social, etc…

I see. Thanks for the info, that’s interesting. Any advice on the implications of that? What would be something that would result in denial before adjudication?

There are so many possibilities I can’t name them all. Employment misconduct, firing, security violations, sexual misconduct, criminal conduct or history, alcohol abuse, drug use, questionable associations, a foreign connection they didn’t like, psychological condition that affects judgment, reliability, or ability to hold a confidence, a conflict of interest, a financial situation… there are MANY scenarios that can play into one of these categories… there’s no way I can begin to speculate.

I see your point. Thanks for the input. We’ll just have to wait.