Security Clearance Summertime Blues: Should You Self-Report?

Summertime is peppered with family vacations, federal holidays, block parties, and fun in the sun. But, it's not just tomatoes and the beach that are in season. Studies suggest that illegal and illicit activity spikes in the summertime. Public drunkenness, DWIs, racking up a mobile sports betting debt, marijuana use, financial instability, alcohol abuse, illegal activity—all could jeopardize your security clearance, whatever the season. And now that assessment is ongoing, security clearance holders must be even more vigilant about self-reporting.

At the core of the security clearance adjudicative process is the "whole-person concept." In assessing your eligibility, one snapshot in time is not enough. Any reliable and available information available—old or new, good or bad—is taken into consideration.