In order to build a trusted workforce, the DoD needed an agency focused on that mission. Defense Counterintelligence and Security Agency (DCSA) services over 100 federal entities, oversees 10,000 cleared companies, and conducts approximately 2 million background investigations each year.
With the combination of agencies, DCSA is now the federal government’s largest counterintelligence and security agency. By building a trusted workforce, the DCSA creates a defensive wall around the US, protecting it from active and persistent attacks by our nation’s adversaries against the federal workforce, technology, and information.
History of the DCSA
All the way back in 2017, the DoD was directed to begin looking into what it would take to move the National Background Investigation Bureau (NBIB) and the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) over to the DoD. The next fiscal year, the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) transferred background investigations for DoD personnel as a DoD responsibility. Additionally, the agenda from the Administration addressed the goal of consolidating the investigative mission into one entity to oversee.
The President’s Executive Order 13869 of that same year finalized the move from OPM to the DoD. With a commitment to personal vetting reform, the focus on ensuring a trusted federal workforce emerged, along with increased efficiencies and effectiveness in the personnel vetting operations.
The agency was renamed the Defense Counterintelligence and Security Agency on June 24, 2019.
DSCA’s part in the security clearance process is the role of Investigations Service Provider. DCSA provides investigations that support clearances and determining eligibility. However, the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI) is the Security Executive Agent. In this role, ODNI is in charge of overseeing investigations and adjudications for eligibility for accessing classified information and holding a sensitive position.
DCSA Headquarters are located at 27130 Telegraph Rd, Quantico, Va. 22134. DCSA also has field offices located across the United States.
Continuous Evaluation Program Under DCSA
As per the DCSA website, the continuous evaluation (CE) program was put into place with recent reforms in order to supplement the formally established program of periodic reinvestigations. Executive Order 12968 mandated that individuals with ongoing eligibility for or access to classified information were under the CE program, following standards determine by the Director of National Intelligence (DNI). The CE program does signify a shift in the government’s clearance process away from reliance on periodic reinvestigation, and instead, allowing the government to determine adverse information through self-reporting and continuous evaluation efforts.
Executive Order 13467 further defines CE “as a vetting process to review the background of an individual who has been determined to be eligible for access to classified information or to hold a sensitive position at any time during the period of eligibility. ” With automated checks and business rules in place, CE is able to assess clearance holder’s ongoing eligibility. With early detection measures in place, clearance holders get more opportunities to mitigate the triggers, get help, and ultimately better manage their risks. According to DCSA, “Per EO 13764, CE will evolve into the Continuous Vetting (CV) model in support of Personnel Security Clearance (PCL) reform efforts.”
Continuous vetting (CV) is defined in the Executive Order 13764, which mandated reviews for cleared individuals at any time, in order to determine that applicable clearance requirements are still met. Essentially, CV offers real-time background reviews, at any given point in time.
