It’s the old formula for magic practiced by budding illusionists around the world: take something seemingly impossible to hide, and make it instantly disappear.
I spent many childhood hours practicing card tricks and slight-of-hand novelties purchased at the magic shop on Disneyland’s Main Street. Although I never became a Houdini or landed the television special I dreamed about, magic never quite lost its intrigue for me. There is just something about the art of the illusion.
So it was with great interest that a recent client posed to me this conundrum: “I am positive I had a clearance many years ago as a federal employee, but I’m now applying for a contractor gig and there is apparently no record of it anywhere. Am I totally hallucinating?”
Now despite my love of magic, I am also a realist. Nothing – especially something like a security clearance – ever truly disappears. So we began to dig.
The Case of the Disappearing Security Clearance
First stop? The Joint Personnel Adjudication System (JPAS) because of the fact that the client had previously worked for a DoD-affiliated entity. Result? No record found.
Since this particular agency is also considered a part of the intelligence community, the next step was Scattered Castles. Still no record.
Next we tried OPM’s Clearance Verification System (CVS). That, I thought, had to be the solution, because it is effectively a “catch-all” for clearances not housed in either of the above databases. But still nothing. At this point, I was starting to question whether the client was, indeed, hallucinating.
Finally, I thought, why not go directly to the source? I had the client submit a Privacy Act request directly to the former employing agency and, lo and behold, after the requisite bureaucratic delay we actually received a useful return. The client had, in fact, held a clearance, but long before the days of “reciprocity” and information sharing that supposedly render such situations problems of a bygone era.
In the end, the client got what he needed – which turned out to be critical since he had claimed on his resume that he had helped develop a certain program decades ago (which would have been clearly impossible without a clearance). Allegation of resume falsification averted.
And I walked away with this reminder: even in today’s high tech world, federal agencies still can’t always figure out how to communicate. If a recruiter or security official ever informs you that there is no record of your clearance, don’t panic. With a bit of digging, you’ll probably discover that it is, well, just an illusion.
This article is intended as general information only and should not be construed as legal advice. Consult an attorney regarding your specific situation.
