Preparation for SSBI

[Gurahiyi]

Hello all,

So I have been going through the recruiting process and realized the MOSs I'm looking at in MI require a Top Secret clearance (with polygraph). I've read up on the forum about how the investigations work, reasons for disqualification, etc, but didn't personally see too much on how to prepare for one. Specifically, I'm wondering what my online footprint should look like, and how far they will check into it, and what steps I should take to clear it up. My footprint is both very big and very tiny. I have a lot of accounts on a lot of sites, but I rarely use my real name or main email address to register them. Also, I have an extensive number of international friends I talk to frequently, and I recently attempted to transfer $300 USD to one friend in the Philippines, which didn't go through due to a routing error, but the bank still has it on record. Also I travel internationally quite a bit. I know that foreign influence or contacts aren't the most favorable thing to see in a SSBI (I think, at least), and was wondering how that might affect it or if there is anything I can do to improve way the investigators may perceive it.

Regards,
Gurahiyi

 

[Dienekes]

After Gurahiyi's question is answered I have a similar question that doesn't require a new thread. How does this relate to online foreign language exchanges such as on Skype or Italki to practice a language? Is it frowned upon in getting/keeping a clearance or not a big deal?

 

[Il Duce]

You need to declare all your foreign contacts, you need to be honest in everything you fill out and say to the government for the perpetuity. Anything you try to 'clean up' that comes out later is going to be a huge problem. It's likely smart to start limiting your foreign contacts - but that might be smart anyway. The phrase 'I like to talk to a bunch of people on the internet I don't know about blah, blah, blah' tends to reflect badly on one's ability to be trusted with secrets.

@Dienekes what security reviewers are interested in are close and continuing contacts - even limited ones. When in doubt declare.

 

[Gurahiyi]

You need to declare all your foreign contacts, you need to be honest in everything you fill out and say to the government for the perpetuity. Anything you try to 'clean up' that comes out later is going to be a huge problem. It's likely smart to start limiting your foreign contacts - but that might be smart anyway. The phrase 'I like to talk to a bunch of people on the internet I don't know about blah, blah, blah' tends to reflect badly on one's ability to be trusted with secrets.

@Dienekes what security reviewers are interested in are close and continuing contacts - even limited ones. When in doubt declare.

My foreign contacts aren't random ones from the, they are people I have worked and lived with overseas. For example, I have 40 close contacts and nearly 1200 loose contacts in the Philippines from people I worked with during my two months most recently there attending a leadership academy and doing humanitarian aid work. I will immediately cut off contact with as many as possible, but I also have contacts in Russia, Netherlands, Spain, Italy, New Zealand, and Australia for similar reasons. Some of these people (maybe a half dozen) are closer than blood family and I really don't want to have to disappear on them. If I explain the circumstances to the investigators and declare them, will that be acceptable? I can't hardly declare everyone that I know or talk to internationally so the best I can do for that is disconnect from them or delete my social media accounts all together as that's are most frequent means of communication. By clean up I mean should I start deleting accounts on say, Instagram or Facebook or what have you. I don't post on them typically, only the very occasional photo of myself say white water rafting or at the Eiffel tower in Paris or skydiving in Germany, etc. Another thing is organizations have posted a lot of pictures of me on their accounts. I can request for them to be taken down if needed. I am wondering if I need to do anything along those lines. For the record, there are no "compromising" photos of me doing stupid stuff. Some have poorly chosen captions and I am having those taken down, but the rest are of healthy recreation or work activities.

 

[Il Duce]

Live your life man, I don't see how you're going to get a clearance but good luck.

 

[Gurahiyi]

Live your life man, I don't see how you're going to get a clearance but good luck.

Yea... I realized after a few minutes that I'm kinda screwed. I'm going to talk to a few friends with clearances and see what they suggest. Cut off as much contact as possible, take down what I can, etc. Give it my best shot and hope it works out. Otherwise, well, we'll see.

 

[Gurahiyi]

Never realized that humanitarian work and travel would cost me.

 

[Teufel]

Never realized that humanitarian work and travel would cost me.

You never know until you apply. It all depends on how often you contact these people and why.

 

[Gurahiyi]

I just got back from meeting with my recruiter again and she thinks I can get the clearance and still wants me to go for MI. While the organizations I work with have partnered with foreign government for certain purposes (for example, we trained the Philippine National Police and military on recognition, prevention, and intervention tactics for Human Trafficking on my most recent trip) I don't have direct contact with any foreign governments at this time and the close friends I worked with and have continued contact with are also from other NGOs that have no government connection so I should be ok if I declare them and explain the situation as soon as possible. She advised me to clean up my online presence (I now only have this account, two google accounts, one active one inactive for many years, steam, and one inactive yahoo account, I deleted everything else) and then I should be ok to get my clearance. So. I'm going to go for it and give it my best shot.

 

[policemedic]

I don't do clearance investigations and I don't adjudicate them. I can't honestly say what factors into the approval decision other than the whole person concept is important.

However, I have run investigative units so let me give you some advice.

Stop. Talking.

Without going into detail, pretty much everything you've said in this thread would make an investigator's Spidey-sense start buzzing. And once that happens, things start to get interesting.

Good luck.

 

[Kraut783]

Be honest and provide all the eQuip asks for, the only real killer is working for the Peace Corps. I know many persons with your type of background that currently have TS/SCI clearances. If you want to have a life in MI....stop talking so much in an internet forum that is open to public viewing.

Start practicing keeping your life private and limiting your online footprint.

 

[Gurahiyi]

Uh oh. My apologies then. Thanks for the advice @Kraut783 and @policemedic . I'll give them what they ask for and volunteer as little as possible, learn to be quiet and stay offline. Rookie mistake. If a moderator would care to close this thread...?

 

[Kraut783]

Being online is no big deal....just be smart about it and don't comment on something you will regret later (politics, drugs, racial, bullying...etc). Start limiting posting photos of yourself in open forums, use all the security and private features sites offer (Facebook...etc).

 

[Gurahiyi]

Being online is no big deal....just be smart about it and don't comment on something you will regret later (politics, drugs, racial, bullying...etc). Start limiting posting photos of yourself in open forums, use all the security and private features sites offer (Facebook...etc).

I stopped commenting on that sort of stuff about 3 years ago, so hopefully it shouldn't be an issue. My accounts on social media (formerly, all now have been permanently deactivated or deleted) were set to private, location off, etc, and non had more than a dozen photos of myself at the very max, none of which were at all in poor taste. I've gone through my friends social media accounts and had them take down the majority of their photos of myself. I think I'll just stop posting altogether at this point on all platforms, for the sake of better time management, security, etc. It just seems like a good and safe idea. I talked to someone with a top secret clearance and sorted out my past and contacts so I think I'm ready for it. Now I just got to keep my nose clean from here on out (FYI, I have no prior records of wrongdoing anywhere of any sort).