[DCBryan1]

A secret clearance gets little or nothing. A Top Secret clerance is the brass ring

Actually, a TS-SCI, DOE "Q" Clearance, critical nuclear weapons design clearance, and USSS Presidentials are higher.

I would hate to be the .gov G-2 equivalent reading on all those SF312s.

[Tonytitan]

I always wondered what the “above Top Secret” classifications were.

[JoeFromSidney]

Does the "Q" clearance still exist? I thought it had been replaced by something else, but it's been a long time since I was involved in classified stuff.

Also, don't forget "crypto" clearance. That's above Top Secret as well.

My brother, a Marine communications officer, spent two tours in Vietnam. He had to spend both tours "inside the wire." The regulations said that anyone with crypto clearance had to have an armed helicopter escort for every move outside the wire. As he put it, "Who ever heard of an armed helicopter escort for a Major?"

[SgtHooper]

Just to make this more clear, a Q clearance is not an automatic grant to top secret info. The “need to know” qualifier still applies at all levels. I held the Q for over 10 years.

[Boiler Plate]

TS/SCI Full Poly is the real ticket.