Posted on Feb 2, 2016
TSgt Joshua Copeland
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I am asking simply because I was reviewing some documents and dozens of folks identified as AD, Res and Guard with ranks up to E7 indicated they did not have a clearance. On the AF side, we won't even give you access to NIPR without at least a secret (mil) or favorable (Civ).
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SGM Erik Marquez
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"It's MOS specific really. E7 and above need at least a secret clearance"
That mostly, but lets say it is Job/ Task related and also by grade.
Many Army folks work outside their school trained MOS every day. Some of those are in other MOS slotted lines that just don't have a fill, and the Army has many jobs that are additional duty's or worse required full time positions for which the Army has never created an authorization for.
Here is an example.. at the Company level, each company in the US Army has at least one "Training room NCO" Usually in the pay grade of E4~E5 That person should have a Secret clearance to do the job correctly, and that job is not an authorized line on the MTOE, yet filled in every unit I have ever seen, because it's needed.
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COL Strategic Plans Chief
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TSgt Joshua Copeland, there are things in peoples' pasts that will disqualify them from a Secret clearance but not disqualify them from service. No sense denying entry based on an additional requirement. Now...they should be made aware at the recruiting station that at some point they will have to pass a background check by the agency. That way they aren't surprised later in life when they decide they want to make a career out of it.
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TSgt Joshua Copeland
TSgt Joshua Copeland
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I would disagree, in the age of an all volunteer for, especially during drawdowns, why would we want to invest time and money on someone we know we can't retain long term?
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CPL(P) Intelligence Analyst
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In my experience working personnel security, individuals who had derog information and were previously denied a clearance but retained in the service were reinvestigated if they were promoted to a rank that required a clearance. The reinvestigation typically came up good and the clearance was granted. At my last unit, we had a SSG who had been denied a clearance at one point because of debt, but when he became a battle NCO (several years later) we put in for a reinvestigation and he was granted a clearance. Unless you've had a clearance revoked, behaving yourself will usually clear the way for a Secret.
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PVT (Non-Rated)
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I got a felony when I was 17 but case was sealed and expunged after I did my community service and paid restitution, I am 20 now and I have already been through meps and I have signed my contract as 25N and I ship out to basic in June , will the fbi investigator find out about my juvenile record or am I good ? I didn’t tell them at meps cause the recruiter and station commander told me to lie about it , but I want to hear from someone else
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1SG Civil Affairs Specialist
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The Army has a lot of MOSs where you just don't touch any classified information nor any gear that requires a clearance to operate. The most common secret gear the Army uses routinely are the hop sets for radios and to a lesser extent EW gear.
It varies a lot by MOS, though. In mine (Civil Affairs), everyone needs a Secret clearance, as most of our reports and information we use to build assessments and analysis is at least Secret. Once we get to E-7 and all officers need a TS/SCI.
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PVT (Non-Rated)
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I got a felony when I was 17 but case was sealed and expunged after I did my community service and paid restitution, I am 20 now and I have already been through meps and I have signed my contract as 25N and I ship out to basic in June , will the fbi investigator find out about my juvenile record or am I good ? I didn’t tell them at meps cause the recruiter and station commander told me to lie about it , but I want to hear from someone else
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1SG Civil Affairs Specialist
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PVT (Join to see) - If you lied to the investigator or on your form, you are in trouble. You can bet that they will find out, too.
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PVT (Non-Rated)
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Why is it that 80% say no I won’t be caught and 20% say I will smh,damn bro I really wanted to be in the army as 25N but why do they have to base my childhood off of me being a good person1SG (Join to see)
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1SG Civil Affairs Specialist
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PVT (Join to see) the lie of omission is the bigger problem, not what you actually did as a minor... excepting serious offenses, of course.
My advice is to come clean, because if/ when you are caught, a fraudulent enlistment will be very painful for you.

By the way, you just posted what you did on the internet.
Just saying.
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CWO4 Branch Head
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very common. Non-citizens cannot have a clearance. we allow them on NIPR, but they cannot access any of our systems. In my case it's pay systems.
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TSgt Ncoic, Combat Training Detachment
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Eeeeh, yes and no. I'm intel, and I have worked with a few non-citizens. Not a lot, but enough. It is true they cannot have a TS clearance, but many can get what's called an LAA; Limited Access Authorization, which is equivalent to a Secret, but a lot more restrictive in its requirements for authorization. They can't do ops, but they've handled our records, clearance investigations, etc.
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