I’ve had a few clearances as has my dad and husband. The key is if you actually work in DCAS or the like. They can take a long time just to grant you clearance after application for any level. Not to mention all the questions just for a renewal. I don’t think it’s just being a citizen.
The process can take a long time if you never had a clearance. Seeing as he was ex navy his clearance would have just been inactive so it takes a shorter time to get it back active.
There is a big push to tighten up the process. A lot of people got granted clearances because of the Iraq and Afghanistan situation. DOD could not wait for years for the clearances to come back.