DoD Personnel: More Actions Needed to Address Backlog of Security Clearance Reinvestigations

The federal government uses personnel security investigations to determine whether an individual should be granted access to classified information. In addition to requiring an initial investigation, federal standards require periodic reinvestigations of individuals granted access to classified information. DOD estimated in November 1999 that the typical cost to perform a top secret and a secret reinvestigation was about 1,800 and 250, respectively. Although such investigations do not guarantee that individuals will not later engage in espionage activities, they remain a critical step in identifying those who can be trusted to access and safeguard classified information. Of the 2.4 million DOD military civilian, and contractor employees with personnel security clearances at the end of fiscal year 1998, 96,000 held confidential clearances, 1.8 million held secret clearances, and 524,000 held top secret clearances.