Security Clearance Question

[student til 30]

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[Monty Python]

Don't know the precise answer, but here's what happened to me.

Active duty on flight status in 1980s, with Top Secret clearance. Seven year break. Joined the drilling reserves in the 1990s, and had to fill out all the paperwork for a new Secret clearance. Had to renew that 8.5 years later, still at just Secret level, when recalled to active duty from the drilling reserves and deployed OCONUS.

It might also depend on the similarity (or not) between your military clearance, and the specific rationale for your civilian clearance. For instance, I don't think a generic military Secret clearance will let you work for State, Energy, CIA, etc, without their own added particulars. It should, however, make it go faster. Ooops, there I go, applying logic to the USG.

 

[DrMetal]

Does anyone know if having a secret clearance through the military supersedes more limited background investigations (e.g., SF-85) for federal employment in non-sensitive positions?

It depends on the receiving organization and whether or not they're willing to pay for a full new investigation (the organization bears the cost of this, and it can be quite costly, especially for TS inquiries). And any self respecting organization will make you go through the entire investigation (lest they want egg on their face, should you become the next Snowden). What makes you attractive for the position is the fact that you've passed the clearance once in a prior life, so you're more likely to pass it again; that's why many private sector companies hire military folks for secret squirrel stuff.

How is this relevant to the medical corps? Secret clearance is all you need, you'll get it when you're commissioned, should be just paperwork and a couple of interviews.

 

[student til 30]

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[DrMetal]

Thanks for the replies. It looks like I'll probably go through the background check as usual with the possibility of something moving faster or being easier on the investigator's end.

DrMetal - I'm a HPSP student who will be doing some clinical training at a federal site. The most secret/sensitive stuff I might come across will probably be limited to personal healthcare information, but the site wants to make sure that I don't have a criminal record and so on.

Its fine, at most you'll need a secret clearance, let em do their thing (investigate you however they wish, fast or slow)