I am undergoing the process of getting a clearance right now. From everything I
have learned a clearance from OPM or DoD has a lifecycle of 5 years so if you
have held one in the last five year and are currently not using it, it becomes
inactive. Reactivation is pretty quick depending upon circumstances.
The latest figures I have heard is that there are currently something like
300,000 or so people in the system awaiting some form of clearance. This is
just scuttlebutt that I am hearing, I haven't actually seen any figures. It
actually seems a bit high to me but I really don't have anything to really
compare that with.
The last information that I had was that the current time period for getting a
Top Secret SSBI clearance is roughly 2 years. A rush can be requested by the
government agency that requires it but they must contact DSS themselves.
Now OPM and DSS (the DoD investigative branch that handles security clearances)
are suppose to merge sometime soon. There has been rumor and conjecture over
this for years apparently and how quickly that will happen (if at all) and how
this will impact the current backlog would be anyone's guess.
That's the quick dump of what I know, Most of what I have learned has been from
people involved in this for a while so while I put some salt in their opinion,
understand the source. I reserve the right to be wrong. :)
Graydon McKee - CISSP, GSEC
Senior Security Architect, Federal Information Security Practice
Unisys US Federal Government Group
Office: 703-439-5991 Fax: 703-439-3216
Mobile: 240-472-7148
Its been my experience that if you have had a clearance say, within the
past 5 years, you are cleared faster than someone who has never had a
clearance. For those who do work for the parts of the US Federal
government, a clearance is essential. There was a huge push to clear a
lot of people after 9/11/01 so a backlog developed. This makes the
clearance even more valuable.
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Message: 3
Date: Fri, 11 Feb 2005 07:01:48 -0800 (PST)
From: Raymond Jender <rayj00@yahoo.com>
Subject: Preparing for Clearance
For those of you that want a taste of requirements
for cleanrance, download EPSQ...
http://www.dss.mil/epsq/patch.htm
Ray
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