Pentagon Halts Contractor Clearances

The Washington Post ^ | April 29, 2006 | Renae Merle

[George Smiley]

Guess we'll *really* need more H1B's now...

</SARCASM>

[Rummyfan]

Geez, I hope this doesn't include mine. Been waiting for my TS for some time now......

[Coop]

There has been growing frustration with the wait time, which some companies have described as up to a year, to obtain clearances for new employees.

I'm now well over two years and counting for my periodic reinvestigation. And I'm more boring than ever. Should have taken like 8 weeks! :-)

[Red Badger]

H1B's? B1B's.............

[jpl]

This so-called "war" that we're allegedly in seems to become more of a sick joke every day.

[68skylark]

Thanks for the post. If you see more stories on this topic, feel free to keep us posted.

[rhombus]

potentially exacerbating a shortage of employees authorized to work on the government's most secret programs

Um...one of the big contributor to the shortage is the Govt's perception of anyone who ever smoked weed as being some sort of threat to national security. They claim that these people are susceptible to blackmail. However, they create their own problems by creating and fostering the blackmail threat themselves.

[ErnBatavia]

Say what??

[jpl]

Say what??

You don't find it just a little bit sad that we're at war, and our government doesn't even have the resources to handle the security clearance caseload?

[glorgau]

Yeah, it's silly. Sort of like being homosexual used to be a no-go. It's only blackmail material if the person is in the closet or is mortified of it being exposed.

For instance, do you think someone could blackmail the character on South Park - Big Gay Al or Mr. Slave? ;-)

[kevkrom]

Guess we'll *really* need more H1B's now...

Even with the sarcasm, I'm not sure the point you're trying to make. H1B visa holders, or any other non-citizens, are ineligible for working on government projects that require a security clearance.

[USNBandit]

I don't know if this is a factor but last summer the gov't changed to a different computer system and they dropped a fair number of clearances for military members. Mine was one that was dropped.

I have been waiting for several month for my SSBI to be redone.

[last american]

The Defense Security Service blamed overwhelming demand and a budget shortfall for the halt, which caught the government contracting community by surprise. Already, 3,000 applications have been put on hold, said Cindy McGovern, a DSS spokeswoman.

Having done defense contract work in the past, security clearance isn't an issue. We had guys the were denied clearance even some felons that were allowed to view etc. classified information. Besides, with the horrendous amount of waste and fraud I saw, the less military workers the better. I can't afford it anymore.

[kalee]

ping

[nina0113]

I spent a YEAR waiting for just a "SECRET" when Clinton was elected & brought his crew in; I kept calling DSS to find out if there was any reason for the delay and they said it was just the backlog. I ended up changing jobs before they issued it.

[eyedigress]

I recall from the late 80's that a simple DUI could get your clearance whacked.

[ErnBatavia]

You shoulda posted that the first time, versus your stupid little wisecrack.

[jpl]

It is the backlog, which has been exacerbated since 9/11 and the creation of the Department of Homeland Security.

The government and military get priority over contractors, which is certainly understandable, but this is going to have a big impact on a lot of important projects.

[Centurion2000]

The government and military get priority over contractors, which is certainly understandable, but this is going to have a big impact on a lot of important projects.

Sounds like they need to start declassifying a lot of data then.

[kevkrom]

We had guys the were denied clearance even some felons that were allowed to view etc. classified information.

Then some people need to be going to jail.