This security clearance applicant had a history of threatening behavior, and was concerned after receiving a Statement of Reasons (SOR) that required undergoing a psychological evaluation:
I’m 37 years of age and working as a DoD contractor and going for my secret clearance. I submitted my security clearance application and received a SOR regarding needing to psychological eval. I did that and one of the questions that came up was if I had ever been suspended from school. In 1994, while in 7th grade I was suspended for threatening a fellow student with a miter saw after being relentlessly bullied. I was suspended for a week and allowed to come back to school. I was charged with a misdemeanor but not sure what the actual charge was. No jail time, but community service and probation.
I didn’t have to divulge this on the sf86, but I did divulge two charges, one of larceny and another of terroristic threats both misdemeanors. The terroristic threats were originally a felony marked down. These both occurred in 2004. One day jail and probation were the sentences.
It seems that these latter two issues weren’t a big deal as I would have been disqualified initially without this going to dodcaf and having the evaluation. Would the 1994 incident be far enough in the past as not to cause a problem?
FILLING OUT THE SF-86
This security clearance applicant technically did everything correctly – “have you XXXX in the last 7 years” would be answered easily if the charges / arrests took place prior to 2014 and even with the “have you ever” questions listed on the form, the applicant would have no reason to answer yes.
Question 22.2 asks the security clearance applicant to report whether the following scenarios have EVER occurred in their lifetime:
- Conviction in any U.S. court of a crime, for which the sentence exceeded 1 year and the individual was incarcerated for more than 1 year.
- A felony charge.
- A domestic violence conviction.
- A charge involving alcohol, drugs, firearms, or explosives.
Marko Hakamma, moderator on the blog notes an important point, “It seems strange that you would be referred for a psych eval for something that happened 24 years ago if there was no similar concerns since then more recently.”
Later in the thread, the poster divulges that there were rumors a subject interview could have prompted the psychological evaluation. The evaluation included more “have you ever” questions, which would have brought up some of the juvenile records from 25+ years ago.
These charges alone would not likely warrant a SOR. But a subject interview that included additional adverse information could have triggered further inquiries from adjudicators. Like many SORs or Letters of Intent to deny security clearance, the reality is not necessarily that chances of obtaining a security clearance are sunk, but simply that the government requires more information to make a determination. In this case, it makes sense: with much of the clearance process based on reliability and trustworthiness and willingness to protect national security, a prior charge of ‘terroristic threats’ will require further inquiry. For the government, the emphasis is always on protecting the interests of national security. The psychological evaluation was likely a request made to ensure whatever behavior led to the 2004 charges wasn’t still an issue today.
Like many aspects of the clearance process, time and the whole person concept likely worked in the applicant’s behavior. Foolish – or even criminal – behavior of 15+ years ago can be mitigated.
A few months later, this applicant received their Top Secret security clearance.
Much about the clearance process resembles the Pirate’s Code: “more what you’d call guidelines than actual rules.” This case-by-case system is meant to consider the whole person, increase process security, and allow the lowest-risk/highest-need candidates to complete the process. However, it also creates a lot of questions for applicants. For this reason, ClearanceJobs maintains ClearanceJobsBlog.com – a forum where clearance seekers can ask the cleared community for advice on their specific security concerns. Ask CJ explores questions posed on the ClearanceJobs Blog forum, emails received, and comments from this site.
