DoD lacks data on employees overdue for security checks

tballard@govexec.com

The Defense Department doesn't know for sure how many of its employees with security clearances are overdue for scheduled re-investigations to determine if they are still eligible to hold their clearances, according to a new General Accounting Office study.

DoD estimates of its re-investigation backlog "had methodological limitations, were six months old or older by the time they were reported, and excluded thousands of overdue re-investigations," GAO concluded.

More than 2.4 million DoD personnel hold Pentagon security clearances. Depending on the type of clearance they hold, these employees are re-investigated every five to 15 years. In January, DoD estimated its re-investigation backlog at more than 505,000 cases, but acknowledged the actual size of the backlog is unknown because current personnel security databases do not provide accurate numbers.

With no department-wide database to accurately measure the backlog, manual counts and statistical sampling were used to gauge numbers, according to the report, "DOD Personnel: More Actions Needed to Address Backlog of Security Clearance Reinvestigations" (NSIAD-00-215). The GAO study was requested by Rep. Christopher Shays, R-Conn.

According to GAO, DoD has long reported a large backlog of overdue reinvestigations, and the numbers have increased each year. Quotas and other measures set up to help eliminate the backlog have failed to solve the problem. Last fall, GAO made several recommendations for overhauling the management of the Defense Security Service, the agency charged with conducting the background investigations.

Assistant Secretary of Defense Arthur L. Money agreed with all of GAO's recommendations in the new report for improving the management of DoD's personnel security reinvestigation program, including implementing a new personnel security database in mid-2001.

"The database is designed to include information that could allow real-time counts of overdue reinvestigations," GAO said.