GTIGirlVR6,
I don't think you need to worry about someone intentionally sabotaging your security investigation. These guys are obviously professionals at this and know what kind of information they are looking for...i.e., if ex-bubba is going to say you drew lines of cocaine while shooting porno with the local mayor after a church meeting, you should be fine. What I'm saying is that if someone makes some claim that is completely out of the context of the investigation, they will look into with a more skeptical eye...rather than hearing a repetitive group of people saying specific things about your past in unison. They have safeguards against this type of stuff, though I don't know what they are exactly. First of all, they probably won't interview your ex, just for the fact that he's an ex...it complicates things. They probably have more of a reason to question him and his motives than they do you. But, like I said before, this investigation is MEANT to weed out the honest ones and the dishonest ones, so everything in your past is fair game. They came back to me with things that I honestly couldn't remember....which is common. When they do that, they're not looking for you to remember every single little event in your life completely, but that you don't hide it when confronted with questions about it. I simply told them that some of these things I hadn't thought about in years, and there was no problem.
So, I wouldn't worry about some lone person in your past trying to screw things up for you. If that were the case, I'm sure I have plenty of people that would love to see me fall for lack of progress through their own lives. The system actually does have safeguards for this type of sabotage and will work with you. After all, DSS WANTS to give you a clearance and get your file out of the way. The more problems they encounter, the more paperwork and time is required from them. Be as honest as you can on your security questionaire and then if they present additional information to you during your interview that they found through their investigation, don't hide it. My guy was really friendly about the whole thing and knew that you just can't remember every single thing in your life all at once. But, he did have a job to do and was required to put the pressure on me to see if I hid anything that he already knew. At the end, while I felt my anus was wrapped over my head, it all worked out fine and finished up smoothly.
But, and I do stress this point...the entire objective of the investigation, as someone said before, is to determine your trustworthiness and integrity for future application with highly sensitive and classified material. They take this very seriously, as they should, especially these days...with security being such a factor in everything. Anything and everything they can discover in your past is open for discussion and investigation. Go into the interview knowing that you have nothing to hide and everything will be fine. As with anything, this can also vary from one DSS agent to another, but should be fairly consistent. Maybe I just got the 'deluxe' treatment!
If so, then you definitely don't have anything to worry about.
Hope this helps.
