I am in the running for a nonsensitive/low-risk position (so probably a tier 1 investigation, I believe?) with a non-IC agency and am a little worried about how my past TS/SCI/FS-Poly denial from an IC agency will affect potential adjudication since I have to report it on the SF-85.
Without going into too much detail, I decided to come clean during my polygraph and admit to what were some pretty bad decisions from when I was in college (2+ years ago). It’s not drug related and I have no criminal history, but part of my denial was that my actions were “criminal in nature” or something like that. I think the only plus side of this denial was that there were no reasons relating to dishonesty or lying. Nothing at all related to work. I believe they were worried the info I gave them could be used as blackmail and was a national security risk. The behavior I admitted to hasn’t occurred since before that investigation was done.
I am wondering how much they typically look into past investigations like this in a T1 investigation. I hear some people claim it’s just a glorified records check or something like that, but my biggest nightmare would be getting an EOD without the investigation being completed, moving across the country and starting, then getting terminated because they decided to deny me on suitability. I enjoy my current job, but this new one would give me a very nice pay raise, and I would move to a more favorable part of the US.
I’d appreciate any info or past experiences with T1 investigations. Thank you!
Typically on Tier 1 investigations they do not include polygraph results, only a copy of the previous investigation completed, and that is only if it was from a non-IC agency. In this case they would not include it. Just be honest on the SF85 about being denied due to not passing the polygraph and if there are no other issues than there should be no reason for you to pass.
Interesting, thanks for the info. I remember the investigator being with the DCSA, but I completed my poly with and received my SOR from the CIA even though they weren’t the hiring agency. I actually did a FOIA request the other day and only received my SF-86, which lines up, I guess?
Another weird event that happened with that investigation, was that I received a rescinding offer email from the hiring agency, not because of the clearance denial but because of what they called a mission change… I assume because of the new administration last year. This was a few months after I received the SOR. It explained that the rescinded offer was not a clearance denial and that I don’t have to report it as such in future SF forms. Now, I feel like I SHOULD be reporting it anyway because it’s something that should be located in somebody’s system. Sounds like they were probably just sending everyone that email without checking the status?
Regarding explaining the denial reasoning, do you recommend keeping it brief and saying I didn’t pass the polygraph or would it look better to explain it in more detail? My only worry is they’re going to think I’m purposefully hiding info, but if it’s a T1 then maybe it’s not really in the scope of the investigation?
Not true about the NRO. I worked there as NRO contractor and a CIA contractor. Each has their own security. department and at one time I was going through a NRO and a CIA background investigation at the same time. This was before CE and I had to have a new investigation done since it had been 10 years since I had my first BI.
It happened because they have different security departments and each did not know about the other BI. The NRO ended up dropping their BI when they found out about the other BI.