That was fucking insane. I remember being dumbfounded to learn that the clearance agency had fired all of the investigators from that contractor, only for a new contractor to rehire them all and win the contract to process clearances again. Horrorshow.

In my experience, if you’re white, male, and have a semblance of your shit together, you’ll be done in 6 months or less. I’ve seen minorities stuck in the process for years, despite having the squeaky-cleanest of records. (On the flip side, I heard a rumor that someone in the building recently got their reinvestigation processed successfully despite having recently received their 3rd DUI…) The exception to that is if you’re in the military, as the government will have a record of anything you’ve ever done, and if you’re an officer then you probably already have a clearance to begin with.