In short, what’s the best way to withdraw (elect to stop processing?) without being blacklisted?
I’m starting with a defense contractor soon and am very committed with the company for now (ie I don’t plan on leaving for 5+ years), so I’m not sure if there would be any benefit to even finishing the clearance. (I’m really unenthusiastic about doing a potentially pointless polygraph)
I accepted some CJO’s back in November 2019, and my investigator submitted his case in February. I’m scheduled to polygraph and psych eval soon, and frankly, I don’t want to (I polygraphed with the DIA a few years ago, so I know how fun they are, and can’t imagine how much more exciting they can get due to COVID-19 restrictions.)
I know security clearances can take seriously long (been there, done that after getting a TS from the DIA, and it sounds like the DIA is quick compared to the NSA) and the NSA often doesn’t even have the position open anymore once people do get the clearance.
Thoughts? Should I just email my recruiters and cancel my in-person processing appointments?
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I would just say something like “Unfortunately, this opportunity is no longer a fit for me and my family. Thank you for your consideration and understanding” or something generic like that. I don’t have any personal experience in this kind of situation, so take this advice with a grain of salt.
Also, keep in mind that because of COVID-19, some agencies have completely frozen all on-boarding of employees, regardless of what stage they are at in the process. This includes cutting off contact between recruiters and respective employees, so even if you wanted to reach your recruiter and let them know you are withdrawing, you may not be able to (this is the case for me, as I accepted a CJO with an IC organization in January).
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This is the easiest way to do it. It is a common occurrence and you wont be blacklisted.
Keep going! What have you got to lose? There’s nothing saying your circumstances and your defense contractor job might change dramatically in the next 6-12 months that it takes for you to complete this process.
This is a good questions, at what point of the process can you pull out without repercussions? What happens to the sf86 in such a situation?
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FWIW, I ended up finishing the process. Just couldn’t bring myself to drop out 
The polygraph wasn’t any different from the first time I did it. Can’t even remember if I had to wear a mask. Still took me 2 days and still was awful.
COVID slowed things down a lot, and I got my final offer in May 2021, which I politely declined. I don’t think any of this made the NSA blacklist me, since I was invited to interview for an internship during my brief stint in grad school in 2023.
(I ended up declining the interview since I did leave grad school, so maybe they’re finally sick of me now.)
This was kinda pointless. If you took the poly but you never indoced with the nsa its basically like you never had the poly, if you were trying to get the full scope from it. Because with them they dont actually add the full scope in your record until you indoc i think to prevent people from using them for full scope polys.
Hey, I have my Poly with the same agency coming up next month. A random thought I have is what to wear lol. Any advice based on what you wore and saw people wear? I’m not a dressy up kinda guy, so if I could avoid that, would be great.