Know anything about the security clearance?

[NavyOCS]

I was informed by my oso that I will have to get a security clearance. My worries come from my credit history and me having been delinquent on bills in the past. How will this affect me?

Also I went to dss.mil to download the EPSQ for the paperwork and my computer gave me one of those SBC Security Alert message saying that this file may not be safe to download.

Anybody have any experiences with either of these concerns?

 

[STA-21-INTEL]

As far as the clearance goes, just remember to be honest. If you are upfront on the questionaire and later with the investigator, they are pretty forgiving. If you have had financial problems in the past (as you indicated), make sure to tell them how you have made progress since then (ie: consolidation, bills paid on time since XXXX date, payment plans worked out with creditors, etc). If you try to hide something and they find it (assume they will find it) they are much less forgiving than if you are upfront and honest. It shows you are responsible and have character. I have seen more clearances denied/revoked because investigators found discrepancies while conducting the background check than I have seen because of actual problems. Why should they trust you with classified/sensitive info if you can't even be honest about a credit card?

If you are honest, don't worry. Everything will be fine and chances are you won't have any issues getting the clearance.

 

[EngineGirl]

I was informed by my oso that I will have to get a security clearance. My worries come from my credit history and me having been delinquent on bills in the past. How will this affect me?


Anybody have any experiences with either of these concerns?

I was soooo worried about this too. I got a call a few days ago that I had to have a security interview. I was worried because of my past credit history. Well the interview was this morning and everything was fine. The interview just asked me about some credit issues and what was going on with it all. Then I made a statement. He could tell I was nervous and was worried that this would mess everything up. The interviewer said that this was nooooo big deal at all. He then went on to explain what was a big deal. Most importently, be honest. He explained that the government realizes we make mistakes, but what really gets people is when they lie. Just don't cover anything up and you should be good to go. He told me that the only person that didn't receive clearance was someone who had filed bankrupacy 3 times in the past 5 years (one was personal and two were work). So don't worry. Just PM if you want specifics of the interview.

EngineGirl

 

[CLAM97to99]

I am pretty sure the Navy runs a credit check when you send in your original application. So if past problems were going to hold you back it would have already happened.

I had a bad credit history due to identity theft. Some a$$ got about 5 credit cards in my name. I got almost all of it off my report but some was still there. Then right after I mailed in my application the bastard did it again (3 years after the original). This time it was only 1 credit card and a cell phone. Fortunately I found out early enough to keep any real damage from being done. Since then I have gone through the hassle of getting a new social security number to prevent it from happening again. But now all my Navy documents have my old SSN on them and my OSO is dragging his feet on fixing it. I am worried about getting down to OCS and all the SSN will be wrong. But none of that really had to do with this thread. Sorry about the tangent.