Troops clearance jeopardized by new background checks

Background Check Change Could Put Troops' Clearances at Risk
Military.com
By Amy Bushatz
27 Aug 2018

"This new process might impact your DoD security clearance and prevent you from being deemed 'deployable,' which could greatly impact your military career unless you can prove to DoD that you were the victim of identity theft, fraud or a mistake, and that you're currently living within your means and are making a good-faith effort to resolve your unpaid debts," the CFPB release warned.

A service member scans in his fingerprint for the Defense Biometric Identification System Jan. 16, 2009. (U.S. Air Force/Senior Airman Chad Strohmeyer)

Troops with security clearances who have low credit scores or past-due bills could be at greater risk of having those clearances revoked, thanks to a change to the frequency at which background check officials look at financial data.

"The Department of Defense (DoD) will now 'continuously' monitor the financial status of servicemembers with security clearances," the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau announced in an Aug. 20 release. "This means that a past-due bill or an error on your credit report could jeopardize your clearance status."

As of early July, 58 workers had their security clearances revoked as a part of the Pentagon's new monitoring system, according to the Associated Press. Officials did not respond to requests for an update.

read more here

Is security clearance deception or real thing with PTSD

SECURITY CLEARANCE DECEPTION
by Larry Scott -- Pentagon's

new policy leads troops to believe that mental health issues

will have no bearing on getting a security clearance.

Nothing could be further from the truth.


Security Clearance Deception

Pentagon’s new policy leads troops to believe that mental health issues will have no bearing on getting a security clearance. Nothing could be further from the truth.

by Larry Scott



Any service member who has ever had to apply for a security clearance has been handed the Standard Form 86, Questionnaire for National Security Positions. SF-86 is 13-pages long and very personal. It contains questions about the applicant, spouse, family, friends, employers, alcohol use, drug use, credit history, travel outside the country and much, much more.

For years, the one question that many objected to was number 21: “In the last 7 years, have you consulted with a mental health professional (psychiatrist, psychologist, counselor, etc.) or have you consulted with another health care provider about a mental health related condition?...If you answered ‘Yes,’ provide the dates of treatment and the name and address of the therapist or doctor below, unless the consultation(s) involved only marital, family, or grief counseling, not related to violence by you.”
go here for more
http://www.vawatchdog.org/08/nf08/nfMAY08/nf050708-1.htm

PTSD no longer a "security" problem

Security clearance Question 21 rewritten

By Pauline Jelinek - The Associated Press
Posted : Thursday May 1, 2008 12:56:42 EDT

WASHINGTON — Defense Secretary Robert Gates on Thursday urged troops to get psychiatric counseling for wartime mental health problems, saying it’s “not going to count against them” if they apply for national security clearances for sensitive jobs.

Gates announced a new policy under which troops and civilian defense employees will no longer have to reveal previous mental health treatment unless it was court-ordered or involved violence.

He spoke to reporters after he visited with patients at a new center at Fort Bliss, Texas, designed to treat soldiers returning from war with post-traumatic stress disorder.

Gates pointedly called PTSD one of the “unseen wounds” of war. He said there are two issues in dealing with it, the first being developing care and treatment.

“The second, and in some ways perhaps equally challenging, is to remove the stigma that is associated with PTSD and to encourage soldiers, sailors, Marines and airmen who encounter these problems to seek help,” he said.

Thousands of troops are coming home from Iraq and Afghanistan with war-related anxiety, depression and post-traumatic stress. But many hesitate to get psychiatric care because they fear that could cost them their security clearances, harm their careers and embarrass them before commanders and comrades.

A question on the government application for security clearances — what Gates called “the infamous Question 21” — has long asked federal employees whether they have consulted a mental health professional in the past seven years. If so, they are asked to list the names, addresses and dates they saw the doctor or therapist, unless it was for marriage or grief counseling and not related to violent behavior.

The new question allows them to answer “no” if the counseling was for any of the following reasons and was not court-ordered:

• Strictly marital, family or grief counseling not related to their own violent behavior;

• Strictly related to adjustments from service in a military combat environment.

Gates said a letter will be attached to applications explaining the department’s position on therapy.

“Seeking professional care for these mental health issues should not be perceived to jeopardize an individual’s security clearance,” said the letter from James Clapper and David S.C. Chu, undersecretaries of defense for intelligence and personnel, respectively.
go here for more
http://www.armytimes.com/news/2008/04/ap_clearancescreening_043008/

Now do you have any more excuses to not seek treatment? Except the fact the VA has not been able to deal with the need. Bang on the doors until you get it!

DOD MAKING ANOTHER BAD MOVE ON MENTAL HEALTH

DOD revising questions about mental health
By Leo Shane III, Stars and Stripes
Mideast edition, Friday, February 15, 2008


WASHINGTON — Defense officials are revising questions about mental health counseling in their security clearance questionnaires in an effort to help fight the stigmas associated with traumatic stress disorders.

David Chu, undersecretary of Defense for personnel and readiness, said Wednesday that the goal is to strike a balance between getting the information investigators need and making servicemembers more comfortable with the process.

“It’s widely perceived that (seeking counseling) is a deterrent to receiving your clearance,” he said. “I think we’ll be able to change it to better assure people they can answer that question without imperiling their situation.”

He did not specify exactly what the changes will be, but they won’t involve completely omitting questions about past psychiatric counseling.

Currently the security questionnaire requires applicants to provide information on sessions regarding “mental health related conditions” including the name of the counselor and dates of care.
go here for the rest
http://www.stripes.com/article.asp?section=104&article=52506

Huge problem about to get worse. When Congress passed the bill that would stop veterans from having a gun permit if they had mental health issues, the veterans were up in arms. Many worried that they would lose their jobs if they came forward and were diagnosed. A lot of them had to turn to private psychologist to protect their jobs even before this passed.

Just because a veteran has PTSD that does not make them all depressed to the point they want to commit suicide, which was the intent of the bill. They do not all go out and commit crimes. They do not all end up homeless either. We cannot dismiss those who develop PTSD at such high levels they do fall into these categories, but we fail them when we lump them all in together.

When you read the symptoms of what PTSD, it is true they can experience all the symptoms but it is also true they can experience some of the symptoms. They do not always fit all sizes. If the DOD and the VA got their act together and consulted the psychologist who treat and know these veterans they would stop doing stupid things that will only add to the reasons veterans and active duty forces do not seek help. They may need to, they even may want to but with so many barriers up, they may find themselves refusing to seek help. The goal is to get them in for treatment as soon as possible and we should be doing everything to accomplish this, not putting up more walls to keep them away from the help they need.

People like me can get them past the stigma and get them to understand what PTSD is but what we cannot do is prevent the DOD and the VA from making very bad decisions.