FlirtatiousFlyer

I am an avid mile runner, all on my leisure time (130k miles+/annually on skyteam). Generally travel at least 2 weekends a month for short trips domestically or overseas (London for dinner, 2 days on the ground in NRT, those sorts of trips) and then two longer week+ vacations a year. Will go just about anywhere there is a mistake fare. I live for mistake fares! Just got in with two tickets on the RGN currency devaluation fares for example.

I am considering allowing my company to sponsor me for a DOD or other three letter agency clearance as there is high demand for my skill set on cleared projects. I've heard bits and pieces and rumors about clearances -whether secret or top secret- impeding one's ability to travel. Something about needing PERMISSION to travel or frequent travel, especially to sketchy countries (like Burma????) being prohibited. I absolutely don't want to give up mile running so I need to know going into this if a clearance would tamper with this hobby.

Obviously I am not asking you to disclose your personal information, but can you give me a general heads up on how US clearances impact mile running, if at all? I've also heard it can impact your ability to make friends with people overseas---as in you may be prohibited from making foreign friends?

clacko

ask your co workers w/clearance about it.....

AlohaDaveKennedy

Correct to have some concerns. Do know a few current cardinals of the DoD ilk who play checkers with the globe, but not to sketchy spots. Back in the Falcon and the Snowman days there was much more of an issue where you were and who you were with. Dunno how I know that. There will be an impact, so you may need to ditch partying with Boris Badenov and Natasha Fatale.

runfit

I had gotten a clearance before that had me sign a bunch of stuff that prevented me from going to certain countries for a set amount of time. I was actually surprised at some of the "friendly" countries that were on the list, so definitely look into it and ask about it. You could also ask to see the waivers, contracts, etc paperwork to see if it details where you would be prohibited from going.

dd1612

One can easily stay within the range of 'safe' countries:
Japan, Singapore, Hong Kong, Australia - are some 'safe' countries in Asia
Europe can be dicey .... even some 'friendly' countries are 'taboo'.
South Africa is also 'safe'.

Ask your supervisors as to the rules and to which countries is travel allowed to.

More importantly:
You need to consider what is important to you?
Your job? or your MR?


For me ..... I know what earns money to pay the bills!

FlirtatiousFlyer

That's just it, my job does not require me to obtain a clearance, they are merely giving me the opportunity to go for it in order to have me billable on a wider array of projects which benefits them financially and could benefit my resume and earning potential going forward. I can say no without any repercussions however and i earn enough already that i don't need more income. Will have to find more about the restrictions and hassles before i decide to go for it or not.

MichaelKade

If that's truly the case you have a very lenient boss. If one of my employees said no to seemingly straight forward request like this I would definitely ask why. The MR response would make me question his loyalty to the company and his overall priorities.

Not saying that as an attack... just how I would feel.

brkandjfk

And while this isn't specifically related to mileage running, it is related to your question... to be granted a clearance, you must both have the ability to know (pass the background requirements) and have a need to know (be assigned to an actual project that requires such).

Companies used to (maybe some still do?) fill their ranks with actively cleared folks who didn't need to be cleared. New guidance from DSS pushes this into the realm of fraud against the government (who 'pays' for the backgrounds, etc.). I know of at least one firm who lost their facility clearance (and their ability to enter / adjust clearance values in JPAS. The FSO from that firm was threatened with jail time. I know he left the company and lost his clearance. I don't know what the last word on that was.

So in short, if you're not going to be actively involved in a cleared project, it's better to simply wait until you are needed on one.

FlirtatiousFlyer

I think I am confusing folks with my description of the clearance opportunity at my company. It came about like so:

I work in a consulting arm of the company where i am in the position to consult on several different projects at one time, lending my subject matter expertise. Recently the company has landed or has in the pipeline a significant increase in projects that will require cleared consultants. So our practice manager mentioned at the last meeting that it would be great to have some of our folks cleared so we can consult on these projects, in addition to our other project work we are doing. However there is strong demand (i.e. no shortage) of non-cleared projects that require my subject matter expertise as well to keep me busy so it's no deep concern to our practice manager if I don't volunteer for this effort (especially since i volunteer for many other tasks). If I worked on these projects, the practice would have to hire additional experts to work the non-cleared projects, and if I don't volunteer, the practice will have to hire additional cleared experts to work on these new projects while i continue to work on the non-cleared projects. Also, I wasn't asked specifically and directly- this was a call out request to the entire group of 30+ folks as a whole.

I didn't mention all of the backstory b/c it really didn't seem relevant to my question, but since a few of you brought it up, there it is.

broms

I'll give my opinion on your question based on my follow three criteria:

- In the EXACT same situation regarding clearance (fellow consultant; clearance not required for the job, but opens me up to more projects and isn't frowned upon if I say no [not sure why people have a problem understanding this])
- Family/friends who all have varying levels of clearance
- Friends with several clearance investigators (who have very nobly told me little to nothing about their jobs (as they shouldn't), but have given me guidelines as I will be seeking to obtain clearance soon)


1) Depending on the level of clearance you/your company is seeking, the investigations will go deeper and deeper. Be prepared to answer for why you travel so much personally, to so many places, for a few short days, etc.

2) Anything you can do during the clearance investigation process to help move things along fluidly (ie not adding umpteen different Border Control reports to your file mid-investigation) will of course be helpful.

3) With regards to whether you should obtain it or not, do you want exposure to those types of projects? Only you can answer that.

If you decide to go for the clearance, it might be in your best interest (both for the sake of answering less questions and not delaying the process) to hold off on so many international trips. I'm not saying you'll be denied entry to another country or back into the US, but three days here, two days there, can be suspicious to the wrong investigator.

Hope this helps, and as always, YMMV.

Often1

1. Nobody here can answer your question better than the appropriate senior supervisors, who can provide you with the paperwork which you will be asked to complete and the certifications you will be asked to sign. Those vary from agency to agency and change over time.

2. Once you have the information above, you can make decisions.

3. As part of the process, you will be asked to disclose all foreign travel over the past X years. Producing that list will be a one-time administrative burden (although you will repeat it each time your clearance is reupped).

4. Having the clearance makes you more marketable so it can be a very good economic thing in the long-term because your employer, although they won't admit it, will likely pay you better to make sure you don't jump ship.

This is all a cost-benefit analysis which looks at long-term and short-term issues.

15cats

It doesn't seem like there is any downside to trying to get the security clearance. Worst case is that they deny you for travelling internationally too much in a short period of time. Since you mentioned you still have plenty of work to do in a highly coveted position, there shouldn't be any worry.

rwoman

I have a security clearance and have not had an issue with my periodic interviews and MR's.

That said, holding a clearance, you have to report to your security office all non-US travel. Also, for the application process for a clearance, you have to declare all overseas travel for the previous 10 years or so as well as any foreign contacts.

USAF Flyboy

It's a workable issue, depending on the specific clearance. Will be a bit of a hassle with reporting, and will require some extra coordination, but it is certainly doable. Talk to your FSO and lay the whole thing out.

krpjr

You should clear certain countries of travel such as RGN, with your SSO - Special Security Officer/Office.

I would worry a lot more if you have a TS or TS/SCI w/ CI. This requires briefing and debriefing.....ok done talking.

And yes, it is advisable to report foreign nationals that are close friends, especially if you are seeing someone overseas.