On Tue, Jul 3, 2012 at 1:10 PM, Don Kuhlman <[email protected]> wrote: > Did you get that through a job or on your own Carl ?
In the US, one cannot get a security clearance "on your own". It has to be initiated from the SMO (Security Management Office) of an existing entity. For the DoD, that's fairly straight-forward. For industry contractors, that means the company will already have a FCL (Facility Clearance) and FSO (Facility Security Officer). Companies obtain these by working with a government prime contracting office, or by an upstream contractor that already have them. There's definitely a "bootstrap" nature to the process for new companies. Very small companies, or independent consultants, can end up depending on their upstream contractor for all SMO matters. Security clearances are *always* associated with a sponsoring entity. One can't get them without a nominal justification. (It's just a field on a form, often filled with boiler plate text, so the justification is not much more than a rubber stamp, but you have to have *something*.) And, as others have said, if one leave the sponsoring entity, one's security clearance is automatically Administratively Suspended. Any person who claims to have a security clearance after they've left the military or other employer is misinformed. But having a clearance in the past makes it easier to get one again, and if it's soon enough, it's almost immediate. The actual Personnel Security Clearance process starts with filling out an SF86 (Standard Form 86, Questionnaire for National Security Positions). It is a detailed life history -- you, your parents, your family, your friends, where you went to school, where you've worked, travel, financials, criminal record, bad habits, favorite color, brand of underwear, etc. You submit this, along with two forms of identification and your finger-prints, to the government. The government does various checks. The type(s) of check(s) performed depend on the level requested (CONFIDENTIAL, SECRET, or TOP SECRET), any special approvals requested, and/or what you put on the form. It could be as simple as a criminal background and credit check. Or they may want you to submit additional documentation. Or they may interview you or your associates. If you're not asking for much and your record seems clean at first glance, you may be granted an Interim Clearance within a few weeks. If they find anything worth of scrutiny, they won't grant the Interim Clearance or will revoke it. The Full Clearance (or denial thereof) can take anywhere from 3 to 24 months, depending on the candidate, the load the government is under at the time, and whatever stupid political battles are being fought. (Clearances used to be done by the DSS (Defense Security Service). Now they're done by OPM (Office of Personnel Management). During the, ahem, "transition period", DSS started refusing to process new requests for a few months, because their budget had been stripped before everything was transferred to OPM.) -- Ben ~ Finally, powerful endpoint security that ISN'T a resource hog! ~ ~ <http://www.sunbeltsoftware.com/Business/VIPRE-Enterprise/> ~ --- To manage subscriptions click here: http://lyris.sunbelt-software.com/read/my_forums/ or send an email to [email protected] with the body: unsubscribe ntsysadmin
