For U.S. Marine Corps veteran Daniel Duggan, the offer was innocent enough: put your skills as a military pilot to use training foreign aviators. Duggan accepted the invitation, in this case from a South African flight school, where he provided training to who he calls Chinese “civilian test pilots.”
More than a decade later, however, Duggan now finds himself fighting extradition to the United States from a maximum-security Australian prison. Duggan and the flight school both say the training he provided was unclassified and open source. He strenuously insists that he has done nothing wrong, and that he was wrongfully lured to Australia from China so that he could be arrested at the behest of U.S. authorities. He argues that he is the victim of a deepening geopolitical crisis – what some call a new cold war – between the U.S. and China.
But a federal grand jury indictment alleges something far more sinister: that Duggan trained Chinese military pilots to land fighter jets on aircraft carriers, in violation of arms trafficking laws, and engaged in a conspiracy to launder money. According to the feds, the South African flight academy maintains a presence in China. They say Duggan failed to obtain the necessary approval from the U.S. State Department’s Directorate of Defense Trade Controls to export defense services or provide training to Chinese nationals.
The allegations against Duggan remain, at this point, merely allegations; nothing has yet been proven in court. Nonetheless, they illustrate a grave danger for American veterans looking to turn their military skills into lucrative employment. If the job offer involves providing training to foreign nationals, there may be, at minimum, some legal hurdles to clear first.
It is difficult to know how many American veterans follow Duggan’s post-service path. It’s likely many never come to the U.S. government’s attention, and it is unclear how Duggan suffered that misfortune. However, I fielded a handful of inquiries in my career from U.S. veterans wondering if they could pursue such an option temporarily while maintaining their eligibility for a U.S. government security clearance again in the future.
The short answer to that question is “proceed at your own risk.” There may hypothetically be some scenarios where this could pass muster with security officials – for example, providing unclassified training to nationals of one of the “Five Eyes” countries with whom the U.S. shares an exceptionally close military-to-military relationship. But security officials don’t provide “advisory opinions” on such matters, and I’m unaware of any relevant success stories outside of officially sanctioned government-to-government situations (e.g., training a foreign military or police force as part of a U.S. government contract). Anything besides a U.S. government contract may raise questions about whether the individual places profit over country and thus requires accepting an enormous degree of career risk.
Of course, the security clearance issue is secondary to criminal law concerns. The clearance is moot if you’re in prison, and the odds of obtaining a security clearance again after being convicted of a crime implicating national security are very low. For all these reasons, anyone considering such an engagement should first obtain competent legal counsel, fully consider the risk-reward calculus, and proceed with great caution. Even if the necessary approvals are obtained and all legal requirements are met, the questionable long-term prospects for again obtaining a U.S. government security clearance may very well outweigh the short-term financial reward.
This article is intended as general information only and should not be construed as legal advice. Although the information is believed to be accurate as of the publication date, no guarantee or warranty is offered or implied. Laws and government policies are subject to change, and the information provided herein may not provide a complete or current analysis of the topic or other pertinent considerations. Consult an attorney regarding your specific situation.
