security clearance interview

[em dee]

For military physicians, what does the background check for a security clearance consist of? Obviously, if you're going to be working on the president, it will be different. I'm asking about a typical military physician. I know there are credit checks, a questionnaire, and a ton of paperwork. Has anybody gotten a security clearance? Did they really interrogate all of your references and places you've lived in the past? Do they really put you through a polygraph test to ask you about foreign nationals and what not like some have claimed? I don't think I'll have a problem obtaining one because my history is pretty clean, but how much time and money do they waste on these things?

What are the physical fitness requirements like?

I'm considering the HPSP scholarship, and I'm not sure whether or not I'd like to make a career out of military medicine or not. I'm wondering what I have to look forward to.

Thanks,
em dee

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[notdeadyet]

It depends on the answers on your questionnaire, but for the majority of us, the security clearance is granted based on a check of your criminal history and financial background. Interviews with past landlords, acquaintances, etc. and polygraph isn't typically done for the Secret level of clearance held by most doctors.

For the physical fitness requirements, try google. It varies by branch, your age, and your gender. I just googled "Army Physical Fitness Requirements" and the first link has everything you need. I'm sure this is also true of the other branches.

 

[numberwunn]

For military physicians, what does the background check for a security clearance consist of? Obviously, if you're going to be working on the president, it will be different. I'm asking about a typical military physician. I know there are credit checks, a questionnaire, and a ton of paperwork. Has anybody gotten a security clearance? Did they really interrogate all of your references and places you've lived in the past? Do they really put you through a polygraph test to ask you about foreign nationals and what not like some have claimed? I don't think I'll have a problem obtaining one because my history is pretty clean, but how much time and money do they waste on these things?

If you have something to hide, don't bother applying.

If you have truly done nothing to make you a security risk, don't worry about it.

The money is not wasted. They do spend good time and money vetting people (depending on level of clearance), but classified information can be very damaging to military personnel. Look at what happens when even one person is trusted in error... everything ends up on WikiLeaks. And our men and women overseas suffer.

 

[em dee]

The money is not wasted. They do spend good time and money vetting people (depending on level of clearance), but classified information can be very damaging to military personnel. Look at what happens when even one person is trusted in error... everything ends up on WikiLeaks. And our men and women overseas suffer.

This is true. I wasn't really thinking about current events. As I was reading up on the program, it just seemed that the background check that they describe (which is apparently more than they actually do in most cases?) is a little extensive for somebody who will never be exposed to sensitive information beyond deployment orders and medical records.

Of course it's important for prospective intel personnel.

 

[Droopy Snoopy]

This is true. I wasn't really thinking about current events. As I was reading up on the program, it just seemed that the background check that they describe (which is apparently more than they actually do in most cases?) is a little extensive for somebody who will never be exposed to sensitive information beyond deployment orders and medical records.

Of course it's important for prospective intel personnel.

Flight docs routinely inspect sensitive workplaces, provide command consultation, and are intimately involved in mishap investigations to name a few examples that involve classified information and equipment. In fact the AF at least now mandates that at least one per installation has Top Secret status. Beyond the operational side, while yeah your typical GI doc doesn't need TS or even Sec clearance, a psychiatrist or hospital chief of staff usually has a veritable need.