Forum: Future F-16 crew

My first post on here if I am not mistaken. But going through a TS background check isn't really that bad. They mostly interview your family/friends and so on. Then they will ask your friends for other contacts of people who may have known you prior to the interview. The background check could take anywhere from 6 months to a year give or take. For specific caveats I.E. working for the DOE or any other agencies like the CIA/NSA dealing with specific controls they might do a Counter intel Polygraph or a Life style Polygraph. But for the run of the mill TS clearance it's mostly financial checks to see if you aren't in debt. They are very vigilant when it comes to financial stuff so make sure your stuff is in order prior to your clearance check. Divorces have been make or breaks for some people I know considering their ex partners most likely ruined their credit before the divorce was final.

Form 398: "Do you take drugs?"
Me: "NO"
Form 398: "Are you willing to stop taking drugs?"
Me: "NO"

Not all the questions will make sense, put N/A on EVERY line with no correct answer.
fisk
NMI

I had "bounced" check at the BX @ Hill AFB in '85...

When I got my clearance "renewed" (switched over from military to civilian) in '93, the investigator wanted to know all of the details on why I bounced a check... They didn't like my answer that I had "no clue"....

I contacted the BX @ Hill and they had no record of it because of the age, but they had reported it to somebody...

I still got my clearance, but I had to write a letter stating what I could remember, etc....

They contacted my references & asked those references for additional references.... they really do check, that's what they get paid to do...

Smitty

Someone with financial issues would be more likely to be at risk for wanting to sell secrets for financial gain and thus a credit check would reveal this possibility. It's not a lazy issue.

Be honest about everything, because them finding out something important you didn't tell them is infinitely worse than just telling them yourself.

What is looked at during investigations for these clearances?

Aside from the obvious stuff like being a murderer or drug runner, I've been told that they primarily look to see if you might be a foreign spy or have affiliated with other nations, and to see if you lie or not.

Anything I'm missing here, or is that pretty much it? I heard that stuff like credit scores can also screw one up. I would assume this is because they don't want lazy/irresponsible people with sensitive information?

How in depth do the checks go? Will the FBI be checking on my F-16.net forum posts 2 years from now? On a more general note, do they even check the internet at all really? Do they pull any sort of sneaky tricks that one should know about, or is it really just a basic straight-forward investigation? Anything one should be prepared to do aside from telling the truth?

Thanks, guys.