DOD Personnel Security Clearance Program

Why Area is Important

Personnel security clearances allow government and industry personnel to gain access to classified information that, through unauthorized disclosure, can in some cases cause exceptionally grave damage to U.S. national security. The unauthorized leak on hundreds of thousands of classified documents posted to the Internet throughout 2010 related to the ongoing wars in Afghanistan and Iraq and other diplomatic efforts, highlights the inherent risks involved when granting an individual a security clearance and the need to have quality imbedded throughout the security clearance process. Following the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001, the nation’s defense and intelligence needs grew, prompting increased demand for personnel with security clearances. The increase in demand was accompanied by delays and backlogs in the personnel security clearance process and such delays increase national security risks, delay the start of classified work, hamper employers from hiring the best-qualified workers, and increase the government’s cost of national security-related contracts.

GAO placed the Department of Defense's (DOD) personnel security clearance program on its high-risk list in 2005 and continued that designation in 2007 and again in 2009 because of a variety of long-standing problems, including delays and backlogs and the quality of investigative and adjudicative documentation.

^ Back to topWhy It’s Being Removed

GAO is removing DOD’s personnel security clearance program from the High-Risk List because of the agency’s progress in timeliness, the development of tools and metrics to assess quality, as well as its commitment to sustaining progress. Importantly, numerous Congressional oversight hearings and legislative reforms, such as the Intelligence Reform and Terrorism Prevention Act of 2004 and the Intelligence Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2010, along with the committed leadership of the Suitability and Security Clearance Performance Accountability Council (Performance Accountability Council)—which is responsible for overseeing security clearance reform efforts—have greatly contributed to the progress of DOD and the governmentwide security clearance reform.

Over the past two years, DOD has continued to make significant progress in addressing the weaknesses that helped place its personnel security clearance program on the High-Risk List. DOD officials within the Under Secretary of Defense for Intelligence, in coordination with the Performance Accountability Council, have demonstrated a strong commitment to, and a capacity for, addressing security clearance reform efforts in line with statutory goals. Specifically:

• Timeliness. Since our 2009 High Risk report, DOD has made significant progress in improving the timeliness for processing initial personnel security clearances. Specifically, we found that DOD processed 90 percent of initial clearances in an average of 49 days and met the 60-day statutory timeliness objective for processing initial clearances in fiscal year 2010. Furthermore, while the executive branch reported that DOD took an average of 129 days to process 90 percent of initial clearances for industry personnel in 2008, we found that DOD completed 90 percent of initial clearances for industry personnel in an average of 63 days for all the data we reviewed for fiscal year 2010.
  GAO-09-400,   GAO-11-185T,   GAO-11-65  
• Quality assessment tools. DOD developed, and is implementing, two quality tools to evaluate completeness of documentation, in response to a GAO recommendation. First, the Rapid Assessment of Incomplete Security Evaluations (RAISE) tracks the quality of investigations conducted by OPM. Second, the Review of Adjudication Documentation Accuracy and Rationales (RADAR) tracks the quality of clearance adjudications. DOD has completed a pilot program for the use of RADAR and began its implementation for the Army, Defense Industrial Security Clearance Office, and Navy Central Adjudication Facilities in September 2010.
  GAO-09-400,   GAO-11-185T,  
• Adjudicative guidance. DOD has taken steps to issue guidance on adjudication standards in response to a GAO recommendation. On November 8, 2009, the Under Secretary of Defense for Intelligence issued guidance on adjudication standards that outline the minimum documentation requirements adjudicators must adhere to when documenting personnel security clearance determinations for cases with potentially damaging information. On March 10, 2010, the Under Secretary of Defense for Intelligence issued additional guidance that clarifies when adjudicators may use incomplete investigative reports as the basis for granting clearances. This guidance provides standards that can be used for the sufficient explanation of incomplete investigative reports.
  GAO-09-400,   GAO-11-185T,  

Nevertheless, we will continue to monitor DOD’s efforts because security clearance reform is ongoing, and DOD needs to continue to place a high priority on ensuring that timeliness improvements continue and quality is built into every step of the process using quantifiable and independently verifiable metrics. Additionally, GAO has made numerous recommendations to further improve the DOD and governmentwide security clearance process and we will continue to track the progress made in implementing those recommendations.

^ Back to topKey Reports

Personnel Security Clearances

Personnel Security Clearances

DOD Personnel Clearances

Personnel Security Clearances

Personnel Security Clearances

Personnel Security Clearances

DOD Personnel Clearances

High-Risk Series

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