The year 2023 may be behind us, but we’ll always have the memories. When the calendar flips, many of us are eager to get on and out with our plans for the new year. But a little introspection can go a long way. 2023 had a few lessons to teach us, and the winners and losers of the personnel security and security clearance headlines are a good place to start.
LOSER: Jack Teixeira
All you need to know is that in exchange for a bit of internet clout and a girlfriend it sounds like he never got to meet in person, Jack Teixeira is sitting inside a federal penitentiary facing at least six charges with penalties of up to 10 years each. Leaking classified information is no joke, and going to jail for decades isn’t a great way to win at life. The leakers are the anomaly in a crowd of millions of patriots willing to do critical national security work and maintain their nondisclosure agreements. But unfortunately, the personal loss also becomes a critical one for national security.
Winner: eApp
Good things are worth waiting for. And if you’ve ever had to fill out your SF-86 on the eQIP, you’ve likely been waiting for the government to do something – anything – to make the process better. Enter eApp. The form is much more intuitive and usable than the old SF-86. And obviously legions ahead of the poor folks who have had the experience of filling our a paper SF-86. eApp isn’t just a better form – it’s the glimmer shining in the eyes of the good folks engaged in the security clearance reform process, reminding us that someday, both the National Background Investigation Services (NBIS) and the Personnel Vetting Questionnaire (PVQ) will be online and making the entire security clearance application and transfer of trust process streamlined.
Winner: Continuous Vetting
CV is fully implemented across the national security population, and in 2024 it’s set to roll out across the trusted workforce (public trust positions). CV isn’t a silver bullet (spoiler – those don’t exist in a human-risk environment), but it is identifying issues faster, and it’s working in tandem with education efforts to ensure issues are identified sooner – which brings us to the next round of winners and losers.
Winner: Mental Health Awareness
The good news – across the national security population, we’re seeing more conversation and awareness around how proactive mental health treatment is actually a help to your clearance eligibility, not a hindrance.
Loser: Drug Users
There is greater knowledge when it comes to mental health issues, but, unfortunately, still a lot of confusion in regards to the impact of drug use on a clearance. Individuals are both unaware in many cases that doing drugs could prohibit them from being able to obtain a security clearance, as well as being unclear that ‘legal’ drug use in the growing number of states with legal drug policies could be a clearance issue. That’s resulting in an increase of clearance denials and revocations due to drug use.
Winner and Loser: NBIS
I’m calling this one a winner because I’m a person who lives with relentless hope. I’m calling it a loser because I also live in reality and I keep seeing the benchmarks on a fully operational NBIS move further out. With so much of the security clearance reform process heading into the Trusted Workforce 3.0 era dependent upon NBIS, it will be critical to get the system fully online. But how long will it take to get there? NBIS could be the one we’ve been waiting for – but that won’t matter if we’re dead.
