A special progress report on Trusted Workforce 2.0, brought by Brett Mencin of Xcelerate Solutions and Lindy Kyzer with ClearanceJobs.com. Stay tuned for future updates as we discuss the important news and policy updates of the TW 2.0 effort.
Trusted Workforce 2.0 (TW 2.0) just celebrated its sixth birthday. TW 2.0 is the comprehensive overhaul of personnel vetting, and to date, and its significant reforms have already fundamentally changed the way America’s most trusted workers are vetted and stay vetted. It includes revamping and improving the personnel vetting policy framework, improving vetting business processes to reduce the backlog, getting processing times to goal, and modernizing the IT framework used throughout the personnel vetting process.
The TW 2.0 implementation process is moving forward using an iterative approach described as ‘building the plane while we fly it’. In 2022, we reached a key milestone with the implementation of Continuous Vetting (CV) for the National Security population. But when it comes to the overall clearance reform ship, no one is ready to fly a ‘Mission Accomplished’ banner across the hull. Progress is continuing, and we expect more of it in the years to come.
TW 2.0 is a monumental shift in the way personnel vetting is performed. In just a matter of years, the government has shifted from episodic and self-reported information to a model of continuously vetting individuals for eligibility. But beyond CV there are other significant milestones worth acknowledging and understanding. The coming year could be a pivotal one in moving progress and reform forward, in huge part due to new people and finalized policies. And that’s good news for personnel vetting reform progress.
PEOPLE
There have been major shifts in the leadership structure and individuals in key leadership roles in the security clearance reform effort.
New DCSA Director David Cattler
David Cattler arrived at DCSA in April 2024. Cattler’s most recent position was as Assistant Secretary General for Intelligence and Security at NATO. He’s also served in multiple enterprise-level roles across the Office of the Director of National Intelligence and has extensive joint service experience serving in advisory roles across the executive branch, including civilian and miliary agencies.
New DCSA NBIS Program Manager Rob Schadey
Rob Schadey arrived at DCSA in March 2024. Schadey will lead program planning and technical and analytical support related to acquisition, cost management, scheduling, development, deployment, and performance for the National Background Investigation Services (NBIS) program. Prior to DCSA, Schadey was Acting Deputy PEO Enterprise Information Systems with the U.S. Army. He is no stranger to digital transformation and stakeholder engagement.
New DCSA Program Executive Officer Edward Lane
Edward Lane arrived at DCSA in April 2024. As PEO, Lane will oversee the direction of multiple IT portfolios including the NBIS, the National Industrial Security System (NISS) and the DITMAC System of Systems. He will also be responsible for cost, schedule and performance of the IT systems needed to move Trusted Workforce forward. Prior to DCSA, Lane served as the Deputy Senior Acquisition Executive at the Defense Intelligence Agency.
New USD(I&S) Tonya Wilkerson (Nominated)
Tonya Wilkerson was nominated to serve as the Undersecretary of Defense for Intelligence and Security USD(I&S) on May 2. The USD(I&S) acts as one of the Performance Accountability Council Principals responsible for the Trusted Workforce 2.0 reform effort. Wilkerson has been nominated to fill the role vacated by Ronald Moultrie at his retirement from government service in February. Wilkerson has spent three decades in federal service, most recently as Associate Deputy Director of the CIA for Science and Technology. She has also served in several positions within NRO.
Acting OPM Director Rob Shriver
Kiran Ahuja announced her resignation as director of the Office of Personnel Management in April 2024. OPM is the Suitability and Credentialing Executive Agent and the OPM Director serves as one of the four leaders of the Security, Suitability, and Credentialing Performance Accountability Council. Rob Shriver has stepped in as Acting Director. He previously served in OPM as Deputy General Counsel for Policy. He’s also spent time in state government and in the private sector.
POLICY
It may be difficult to recognize significant changes to the current personnel vetting enterprise, and that’s by design. In transforming a business process that affects hundreds of thousands across the public and private sector annually, effecting change without breaking what’s already in place is an important part of the process.
The following are notable recent policy updates within the overarching TW 2.0 policy framework:
- Revised training standards for adjudicative personnel
- Revised Federal Investigative Standards
- Revised Personnel Vetting Questionnaire (PVQ)
- Issued Common Principals for Applying Adjudicative Standards
- Issued Performance Management Guidelines and Implementation Guidance
- Issued Trusted Information Provider Program Guidance
- Issued Continuous Vetting for Non-Sensitive Public Trust Positions Guidance
- 5 CFR, Part 731 Update Published in Federal Register
- Updates to the national training standards for suitability adjudicators
Each of these policy updates alone is significant, but combined they mark a fundamental shift in the personnel vetting process and the way security clearance eligibility is determined and access is managed. The policy changes impact every stage of the vetting process, from the initiation of a security clearance through the PVQ, to the investigative, adjudicative, and continuous vetting activities.
PROGRESS
It’s easy to look at current reform efforts and see areas where progress has stalled. One example is the transition to NBIS and the current requirement for security professionals to maintain information in both NBIS and DISS. However, there are still a number of areas where TW 2.0 has brought about pivotal improvements to personnel vetting.
While the policy updates fly under the radar and are often classified, it shouldn’t be understated that the effort around updating and modernizing the policy framework upon which personnel vetting is built has been significant. Policy creates the legs on which future reform efforts will stand – and that policy reframing is nearly completed. And in a major shift from other government policy reform efforts, ‘industry listening tours’ hosted by the PAC PMO provided industry representatives the opportunity to provide feedback on pain points and problems as the policy reform effort is underway.
The most significant muscle movement to date has been the shift to CV for the full cleared population, and in the months to come, to the entire Trusted Workforce (public trust population. CV has proven critical in helping identify potential risk factors in real time, and enabling a more proactive approach to managing the overall security and wellbeing of government and industry personnel and facilities.
The second key area of mission impact resulting from TW 2.0 is the shift in thinking about personnel vetting as not just a security function, but also a business one. Improving the consistency and quality of investigations is behind much of the policy overhauls that have been made, including jointly released Performance Management Standards from ODNI and OPM in their roles as SecEA and SuitEA. These standards are focused on reducing time to hire and improving workforce mobility that are critical to national security. They help improve the capacity and competitiveness of the entire federal government workforce.
In Fiscal Year 2024 DCSA was designated as one of OMB’s 38 High Impact Service Providers (HISP). The designation showcases the important customer experience aspect of DCSA’s mission, something the PAC PMO has considered as a topic of research. Being designated a HISP gives DCSA additional resources to better support the critical mission that they serve.
The business of transforming personnel vetting continues but it’s more ‘mission in progress’ than ‘mission accomplished’. Key improvements will be simplifying the investigation process from five to three tiers, implementing the new PVQ (in place of the legacy standard forms), and enrolling the full public trust population into CV. With many of these hinging on NBIS and the technology updates it enables, the next year will be key in determining how soon, and how successful the ongoing progress of TW 2.0 will be. TW 2.0 has a solid foundation now in place, and personnel vetting reform has irreversible momentum to continue to progress. Stay tuned…
Be sure to follow ClearanceJobs and Xcelerate Solutions for more updates on TW 2.0 and the current status of personnel vetting reforms.
