Background check

[MunkyVsRobot]

How long did it take you guys to get your background check back or have the FBI check your contacts..?

I swore in about 2 weeks ago and the Ssgt at the MEPs said to let your contacts know they will be receiving a call i let them all know and have been checking to see if they have received calls and none of them have.

I was also informed they sit down with you and go over the information on your original SF-86.

[Bagwell916]

It's likely they'll never get those calls unless your some meth head recovered trying to Enlist. None of mine did.

As far as going over your SF-86 with you, if they do, I haven't gone through it yet. I've got about 33 days until I ship out so will see.

[Domc]

How long did it take you guys to get your background check back or have the FBI check your contacts..?

I swore in about 2 weeks ago and the Ssgt at the MEPs said to let your contacts know they will be receiving a call i let them all know and have been checking to see if they have received calls and none of them have.

I was also informed they sit down with you and go over the information on your original SF-86.

What did you lie about when you signed your contract that you are constantly on the lookout for their calls?

[C_Squash_D]

It took about 2 months for me. I think the reason being is because I'm not American.

[MunkyVsRobot]

Haha I didn't lie about anything. My criminal record is squeaky clean besides some speeding tickets I even admitted to using marijuana even though I had never had any police involvement. Just something I am hoping to get over with quickly because in my mind they are trying to find stuff to DQ me, and I have never had an FBI background check before.

I have a tendancy of sweating the small stuff.

[IHaveEGA843]

Trust me.....DO NOT LIE ABOUT NOTHING!!!! ANSWER EVER QUESTION TRUTHFULLY AND IF YOU DON'T KNOW SOMETHING MAKE SURE YOU LOOK INTO GOOD UNTIL YOU PUT YOU DON'T KNOW ABOUT IT!!!!

I had to do this for my job and I currently hold a Position of Trust SF-85P through my company/goverment. They will dig 5 years back for the SF-86/Secret Clearance. If you have credit and know you owe go to a free credit checking website and pull those records because you'll need that info. You'll need info on your immediate family *Mother/Father, Brother/Sister*. You'll need your selective service number and info POSSIBLY references from your school(s).

This is a test to see if the goverment can trust you and trust me they will find out. It's worth it also because in the Gov't Contracting world a Secret Clearance is gold!!!!!

Oh yea, if something is found wrong on your form or even blank YOU WILL BE INVESTIGATED BY A GOV'T OFFICIAL.

Do it right and you won't have to worry about it.

[MunkyVsRobot]

Well this was just the initial SF-86 to get into the DEP. My recruiter says when I apply for my Intel contract then ive got to fill out like 2 or 3 more.

[IHaveEGA843]

You'll probably need a T/S *TOP SECRET CLEARANCE* which digs back 10 yrs into your life and goes way more indept.

Take my advice and you'll do fine and if you recieve any paper work back from the SF-86 process KEEP THEM. I kept my whole SF-86 packet and my recruiter breezed right through it because I already had the whole thing done.

All the initial process is the foot in the door process, once you get a initial secert then you know you have it.

[DudefromDiego]

I have been told they use a polygraph to force the truth out of you. Even if you pop on it, I've heard that if it is something really trivial (like smoking pot once or just being a loon) and it isn't...

[IHaveEGA843]

^^^That maybe needed for the T/S but you will have a sit down interview and be drilled.

Take it from someone who has already gone through the process of this. I've never been investigated because I didn't lie and provided all the **** they wanted.

[achilles097]

^^^That maybe needed for the T/S but you will have a sit down interview and be drilled.

Take it from someone who has already gone through the process of this. I've never been investigated because I didn't lie and provided all the **** they wanted.

With all due respect your clearance isn't high. My entire family has gone through the Top Secret with SCI (polygraph) working for the CIA. You bet they are going to investigate you in person for that. For Secret, they will look at the things on the form, not so much in person. For Top Secret they will physically go to the places you lived and talk to the people you know and look at your references and ask about your friends in common. Secret clearances are NOT hard to get. The investigators are looking for honesty. Also Top Secret it can take up to 6 months, maybe a little less to hear back. For Secret a month or two.

[achilles097]

Correct. They set up the lie detector in such a way that it is designed to not fail asking "Have you smoked in the last two years?" Answer should be no. They wont phrase it "Have you EVER smoked...

[MunkyVsRobot]

Im sure I havent anything to worry about for TS but you just never know what little thing they will find that could possibly DQ you. I know the people who do the investigation arent the ones who are the final decision it is the USMC that is the ultimate decision makers.

[achilles097]

Don't sweat the small stuff. They are really looking for people who are criminal mischiefs or secret crazies (think Timothy McVeigh). If you are applying for a top secret clearance it's way too soon to tell, especially after two weeks.

One of my father's friends Edward Lee Howard was a CIA case officer trained in counter-intelligence, and lied about past drug use in a routine polygraph before he was going on an assignment. They were willing to look behind his past drug use before he was in the CIA, but the CIA was so angry when they found out he was using in the last few years, meaning he used while in the agency. Howard was so angry with the agency's reaction, he eventually sold info to the KGB and defected to the Soviet Union.

Just letting you know whatever it comes down to, or whatever you are worried about, honesty is the best course.

[IHaveEGA843]

With all due respect your clearance isn't high. My entire family has gone through the Top Secret with SCI (polygraph) working for the CIA. You bet they are going to investigate you in person for that. For Secret, they will look at the things on the form, not so much in person. For Top Secret they will physically go to the places you lived and talk to the people you know and look at your references and ask about your friends in common. Secret clearances are NOT hard to get. The investigators are looking for honesty. Also Top Secret it can take up to 6 months, maybe a little less to hear back. For Secret a month or two.


Thanks but with all due respect, I know my clearance isn't a "eye's only" type of clearance. I work with many people from different branches of service and even from different departments of the DoD/Gov't. On our badged T/S clearances show as Blue stripes, Secret shows as Yellow, I don't know what a Position of Trust color is and a general clearance shows as a White stripe.

Also these investigations takes THOUSANDS of dollars and thats why my company is very picky on giving them out.

Good luck regardless O/P because its a process with a great deal of paper work, back tracking, and time.

[DudefromDiego]

You will not be getting a poly at MEPS. They will give you a "moment of truth" interview but that's about it. I think the only MOS that REALLY uses the poly's is Intel. I know Logistics requires a SECRET clearance, but like I said before, even if you pop, if it something minor, they will usually let it fly. Leaving out the measley joint you smoked in 11th grade is very different than leaving out the chronic pot smoking or GTA. YES= Your Enlistment Stops, NO= New Oppurtunites. Be honest though. While I doubt they will give a guy the DD for lying about something little, if you have some serious skeletons in your closet, or are some kind of anarchist in private, you better come clean.