SF86 - DoD Government Clearance Form...Advice?

[Gary The Retard]

IF anyone in OOT has ever had a govt clearance and had to fill out an SF86 form for a DoD clearance I need your help/advice...

few things:

1. People you know...what type of investigation is done here. Is it done by mail, phone, in person? DO they ask that person for another reference and then goto them too? I will be contacting all old friends/roommates to make sure they remember my life the same way I do [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]

2. Employment history - if you work for someone for a week and quit should I put that down or is it too short of a time to matter?

3. Alcohol offenses - I got an underage drinking ticket when I was 18. Paid the fine and thats it...was I convicted of a "crime". Is this an alcohol related "offense"?

4. Drugs...yea I've smoked pot but not for several years. Mostly through college...what's the deal with this. Never done anything but weed which I guess is a good thing.

5. Addresses, I lived in Las Vegas for ~5 months but had no permanent address (just a po box I set up when I bought a new car there) and rented from friends. I will not be putting this down on the form as it obviously points toward degeneracy, especially since I was playing p*ker and not working at the time. Any chance someone can find out about this?

6. Any other tips feel free to help me out.

I'm sure some of you old military guys know about this.

Here is a link to form, it's long and annoying

http://contacts.gsa.gov/webforms.nsf...$file/sf86.pdf

[mbillie1]

As for #3, "crime" denotes misdemeanor and higher... I imagine the underage drinking ticket was a violation, in which case it was not a crime. This is the case in NYS anyway.

[MrTrik]

I've been cleared multiple times on multiple levels. People I've hired have gone through much more of it.

As for #1, it's been phone calls except for one case. They will follow the trail. If all your contacts raise no 'yellow' flags that's it. If a flag is raised they will dig deeper, especially if some of the people you have offered are flakey and or seemingly deceptive.

As for #2, if you had fed taxes and fica taken, they'll know about it, I wouldn't lie on this one. If it was a cash job or you were fired without receiving a paycheck I wouldn't worry about it.

As for #3, yes it's an alcohol related offense and they'll know about it before they even read your app since you were 18.

as for #4, don't worry about it and deny. Unless one of your contacts goes on and on how you were the bongmaster, this is a non-issue.

As for #5. You were in Vegas, it's a free country. You weren't playing poker for a living, you were developing business relationships. It's all in how you present it man.

[disjunction]

[ QUOTE ]


1. People you know...what type of investigation is done here. Is it done by mail, phone, in person? DO they ask that person for another reference and then goto them too? I will be contacting all old friends/roommates to make sure they remember my life the same way I do [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]

[/ QUOTE ]

Depends on their mood. I would advise against telling anyone about this other than the people you list directly, for various reasons.

[ QUOTE ]

2. Employment history - if you work for someone for a week and quit should I put that down or is it too short of a time to matter?

[/ QUOTE ]

Whatever you think is the best answer. It couldn't hurt.

[ QUOTE ]

3. Alcohol offenses - I got an underage drinking ticket when I was 18. Paid the fine and thats it...was I convicted of a "crime". Is this an alcohol related "offense"?

[/ QUOTE ]

Ok we have a theme here. Whatever you think most accurately answers the question (sorry I didn't open the pdf). I will tell you that a drinking offense when you were 18 doesn't make you sketchy to them. Lying on your form, however, does.

[ QUOTE ]


4. Drugs...yea I've smoked pot but not for several years. Mostly through college...what's the deal with this. Never done anything but weed which I guess is a good thing.

5. Addresses, I lived in Las Vegas for ~5 months but had no permanent address (just a po box I set up when I bought a new car there) and rented from friends. I will not be putting this down on the form as it obviously points toward degeneracy, especially since I was playing p*ker and not working at the time. Any chance someone can find out about this?

[/ QUOTE ]

Don't lie. Don't lie. Don't lie. List your freaking address.

Staying in Vegas to play poker >>>> Staying in foreign country to visit parents.
[ QUOTE ]

6. Any other tips feel free to help me out.


[/ QUOTE ]

Tell the truth.

[Hoya]

DO NOT LEAVE ANYTHING OFF. If they find out you left something off, you are done. They won't care that you lived in Vegas or smoked pot a few times.

[mpethybridge]

[ QUOTE ]
IF anyone in OOT has ever had a govt clearance and had to fill out an SF86 form for a DoD clearance I need your help/advice...

few things:

1. People you know...what type of investigation is done here. Is it done by mail, phone, in person? DO they ask that person for another reference and then goto them too? I will be contacting all old friends/roommates to make sure they remember my life the same way I do [img]/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]

2. Employment history - if you work for someone for a week and quit should I put that down or is it too short of a time to matter?

3. Alcohol offenses - I got an underage drinking ticket when I was 18. Paid the fine and thats it...was I convicted of a "crime". Is this an alcohol related "offense"?

4. Drugs...yea I've smoked pot but not for several years. Mostly through college...what's the deal with this. Never done anything but weed which I guess is a good thing.

5. Addresses, I lived in Las Vegas for ~5 months but had no permanent address (just a po box I set up when I bought a new car there) and rented from friends. I will not be putting this down on the form as it obviously points toward degeneracy, especially since I was playing p*ker and not working at the time. Any chance someone can find out about this?

6. Any other tips feel free to help me out.

I'm sure some of you old military guys know about this.

Here is a link to form, it's long and annoying

http://contacts.gsa.gov/webforms.nsf...$file/sf86.pdf

[/ QUOTE ]

OP: I was cleared multiple times to a very high level. I can tell you a few things from experience.

1. Type of Investigation. This depends on the level of clearanceyou will obtain. For a Secret Clearance, all they really do is a records check for criminal record, bankruptcies, credit, etc. It is called a NAC, a "national Agencies Check." For Top Secret, investigators pound the pavement, and you are asked to fill out a much more extensive form.

For levels of clearance above Top Secret (Special compartmented information, Personnel Reliability Program, Or Nuclear Release Authentication System), well, if they leave any stone unturned it is gross negligence. They started my investigation (I was 20 at the time) by going to my high school authorities and asking them to identify my peers who hated me. They then went and interviewed those people. LOL. I filled out a loooong form, and, ofcourse, took polygraphs.

2. Employment for short periods. If you remember the job, put it down. Omissions are much bigger red flags to the investigators than a job or two you quit because you hated it, or got fired for being late or whatever.

3. Underage alcohol poss. is, in fact, an offense you have to disclose. Don't screw with that one, as it WILL show on your criminal record, even if the charge was dismissed. Depending on how picky they are being these days, thiscould be a bit of a problem. Probably not for just a secret clearance, though.

4. When I entered government service, I was strongly encouraged to falsely admit to having used pot, because "everybody does" and my claim that I hadn't would look like a lie, a much bigger no-no than a joint or three. YMMV, but "I experimented a few times then stopped," is a line that got lots of my buddies a top secret clearance.

5. Poker and Las Vegas. PUT IT DOWN. I can not emphasize enough that anything you omit is a FELONY and looks much worse for you than a period of life that all the investigators will be jealous of. Seriously. I knew a guy with a Top Secret clearance who hitchhiked his way around the country for 2 years. He listed addresses like "XYZ homeles shelter, anytown, USA @12 hours in July, 1981;" and "a friend's 1977 Impala, arked in a parking lot in St. Louis, MO..."

6. Tips--Disclose All. Everything. Do not hide anything. Take your chances with old misdemeanors, do not commit new felonies covering up old misdemeanors.

Good Luck.

[RedBean]

[ QUOTE ]
IF anyone in OOT has ever had a govt clearance and had to fill out an SF86 form for a DoD clearance I need your help/advice...

[/ QUOTE ]

The level of investigation done depends on the level of clearance you are applying for....and considering you don't specify, I'm gonna go out on a limb and assume you aren't applying for a TOP SECRET or higher for a particular position.

For basic clearances, the "investigation" is a basic National Agency Check. They don't contact the people you list, or former employers. They collect your info from various Government agencies and as long as nothing jumps out that you didn't list, it goes through.

Fill it out as accurately as possible. Purposely concealing information on the form is a felony, etc..etc.

[Klompy]

This thread was done less then 2 months ago, do a search and you'll find tons of good advice.

[Reqtech]

[ QUOTE ]


5. Addresses, I lived in Las Vegas for ~5 months but had no permanent address (just a po box I set up when I bought a new car there) and rented from friends. I will not be putting this down on the form as it obviously points toward degeneracy, especially since I was playing p*ker and not working at the time. Any chance someone can find out about this?

6. Any other tips feel free to help me out.



[/ QUOTE ]

Do not lie. That is really their biggest concern; how trustworthy you are. If you are caught in a lie, and you will be if you are going TS or higher (or secret if it looks like you're hiding something) you will not get your clearance. I can't stress enough, do not lie. In addition to losing your job, you can get jail time for lying on your SF-86. They don't f* around with this stuff.

If you're that worried about not passing, just find another job, you'd be better off.

[DeadMoney_J]

Follow Mpethybridge's advice on this one and you should be fine. I've also known people who had questionable actions in their past and they still got adjudicated and received TS/SCI clearances.

As long as you're not applying for a position which requires you to get Special Access Programs clearance(s), you should be fine.

Good luck.