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How would a civillian get "secret" DOD clearance?

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phatcow

Platinum Member
I want mines because there are much greater opportunities in the Sys/Admin sector for contract work for the military.
 
Usually it's pursued as a functional requirement of the job you have or company you work for (i.e., working on government contracts). I don't know if it's the kind of thing you can just go down and apply for like a driver's license...
 
First off you would have to get hired then they would do a very long background investigation. I'm a contractor at the CDC and the FBI actually spoke to a few people I had on my list of references. I started working before I got clearance (not "secret" clearance though) and it took about 6 months before the background check was done.
 
Obtaining a secret security clearance is based on a National Agency Check of government records about a person and is relatively inexpensive and quick compared with the process for obtaining top-secret clearance.

Top-secret clearance is based on a Special Security Background Investigation. That process can take six months to a year, and investigators can delve back 15 years into an individual's personal background. The top-secret clearance process is expensive, sometimes costing as much as $100,000 for one investigation. People holding this clearance may be required to undergo periodic polygraph examinations.
 
i had a secret clearance working for a security company. they worked on government contracts and in order to work in the buildings that had them i needed to be cleared. only took me about 4 months for the background check. the paperwork is in depth and took forever to fill out.
 
I think everything has been covered here. The clearances are not taking that long to do. The gov't entered into contractor type agreements with a lot of retired security people ( former FBI, Secret Service, NCIS, etc) to do these investigations. I had/have a TS/SCI clearance and the initial paperwork was extensive but the 5 year updates are not bad. Don't lie, it's a felony.
 
basically the only way to get one is have a contracting company piggyback you on then. there is no way an independant civillian will be able to walk in to a facility, fill out an application for it then.
 
basically the only way to get one is have a contracting company piggyback you on then. there is no way an independant civillian will be able to walk in to a facility, fill out an application for it then.

Correct. I have seen civilian contractors granted an "Interim Secret" once the NAC comes back favorably.

Having a clearance revolves around the "need to know" concept. If one has no need to know, they ain't tellin'.
 
join the military 🙂 er, wait, then you would not be a civilian anymore.... are you a civilian if you work for the state department? if so, then that is a way to get clearance
 
A friend of mine was supposed to get clearance for his job as an electrical engineer working on a government contract, but he was denied the lie detector test because of his past drug experiences he had to put on the preliminary test. Poor kid.
 
Phatcow, there are TONS of jobs like that *here* now -- just apply for one and then they will do all of the background checks, etc. Be aware that you may also be subjected to random drug tests throughout your employemnt.
 
Plenty of civilians have security clearances. The common denominator is that they have a job or are hired into a job that requires them to have one. You cannot request a security clearance because you want to make yourself more marketable. This is a question of national security, not personal worth.

The clearances are not taking that long to do.

Secret clearances rarely do. TS clearances, on the other hand, can literally take years depending on someone's background. With recent problems in the granting of clearances, the wait times have only increased lately. A lot of times it depends on luck to determine how long you have to wait as I've heard bizarre differences in wait times that show little logic given the backgrounds involved.
 
Just apply for those jobs, if you get accepted, the govt. will do a background investigation of you and grant you a clearance. I have one because I work for a shipbuilder for the US Navy.
 
basically if you are in a 'need-to-know' position you can get clearance. this can come from working at the cia or nsa or fbi or any of our nations 13 intelligence agencies or from working for a dod contractor, examples are boeing, lockheed martin, raytheon, etc. also i guess you could get clearance if you work for other branches of the government, as in department of energy, nasa, a member of the us senate, etc.


i refer to 'need-to-know' as defined in Clinton's Executive Order 12968 August 2, 1995 Sec 1.1h
 


<< what kind of stuff do they check for? do they ask about previous drug use? >>


Of course. A lot of positions require drug screenings and poly graphs. They do a very thorough background check. When I had my initial one done they talked to my high school teachers, principal, former employers, neighbors, family..... everyone. They also check to see if you have a police record.

I think they have some sort of priority in how they process clearances. I know everyone on the boats clearances came back in about 6 months.
 


<<

<< what kind of stuff do they check for? do they ask about previous drug use? >>


Of course. A lot of positions require drug screenings and poly graphs. They do a very thorough background check. When I had my initial one done they talked to my high school teachers, principal, former employers, neighbors, family..... everyone. They also check to see if you have a police record.

I think they have some sort of priority in how they process clearances. I know everyone on the boats clearances came back in about 6 months. >>


what if you have no previous police record?
 
Secret clearances rarely do. TS clearances, on the other hand, can literally take years depending on someone's background. With recent problems in the granting of clearances, the wait times have only increased lately. A lot of times it depends on luck to determine how long you have to wait as I've heard bizarre differences in wait times that show little logic given the backgrounds involved.

After the Pollard and Ames debacles, they supposedly "tightened up" on granting anything above Secret.

My cousin was in CID and one of her jobs was conducting the personal interviews. After the initial interviews, the packets are submitted to Fort Meade for BI. Depending upon a number of factors will determine how long it takes. For example, she told me that the BI or SBI for older officers, NCOs and civilians take longer because of the obvious chronological accounting. Another factor is how often one has moved around. They also look at personal debt more closely now than before. Finally, it depends upon the caseload at Fort Meade from what I've been told.

I was first granted a TS in 1985. What was totally hosed up was that they sent my cousin out to conduct the first interview with me. We both couldn't believe it as she admitted she hadn't checked the packets that morning before driving out to our remote site. Naturally, she had to go back and request another agent.
 
a "secret" clearance is worthless nowadays. i have one (inactive). all the jobs now require Ts w/polygraph. uugg..damn terrorists! 🙁

of course if u have a ts/poly, then u can get a 100k+/year job EASILY! and it doesnt matter about your job skill. they'll train u. if the contrractor company doesnt have anyone to fill that slot, they dont make any $. and w/allthe $ bush is throwing around, ALOT of those slots are ts/poly.

hm...joining the reserves for 3 years to guarentee a $100k+/year job...NOT WORTH IT, since they can ship your ass overseas to fight (ie: iraq). getting killed aint worth all the $ in the world.
 
basically the only way to get one is have a contracting company piggyback you on then. there is no way an independant civillian will be able to walk in to a facility, fill out an application for it then.

No. But the big deal is who is going to pay for that background investigation. If you join the reserves of one of the military branches, the military pays. Which then makes YOU more attractive to a company because someone else has already picked up the tab for the clearance. It`s not cheap to send agents out to talk to your neighbors, and as mentioned, the costs go up the older you are (more ground to cover).
 
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