Had a buddy who while he was in basic he trusted his wife to pay their bills (car, credit cards, etc...) well... she didn't and spent his money on what-not... his car got repo'd while he was in his technical school... he had signed on for a special operations deal... got within a week of graduating from the special ops training and they kicked him out because his security clearance got rejected... however after several weeks of begging and pleading and waiting in a 'work detail' .. and because he did very well in his training, they approved an interim if he showed a plan to start paying back his debts....

 

Seriously, if I had to put money on it, the investigator working your clearance won't spend more than 15 minutes on this issue. That is, if you have disclosed everything you wrote about here and have no other financial issues. You are not in a position to be blackmailed or leveraged over this and in no way would this show any pattern of deceit. They're not trying to get you a mortage loan without pmi, they're just trying to see if you are honest, or have any strong reasons not to be. You are not bound to the UCMJ until you raise your hand. Be honest- and you'll be surprised what they actually do, and do not care
about.

Now,....... they find out your student loans were co-signed by an Iranian uncle you failed to mention, and all bets are off.

 

I guess I was wrong, I thought the background check was performed before you start actual training. so I could be in the middle of OTS or something before I know if I passed the security clearance or not? do they tell you once it's complete or you just kind of assume somewhere along the way?

 

My buddy is enlisted so I'm not sure how it varies with the officer programs, but he did a short security interview where they pulled his credit at MEPS... I'm pretty sure he did the SF86 form prior to shipping.

 

I think the AF will do a basic background check before they accept you, they don't want to jump through all the hoops only to have your security clearance fall through. Normally the clearance takes time, maybe up to a year although I think they have got it down to a few months now.

But unless you have some real background issue, you have nothing to worry about. If you do have an issue, be honest about it up front. If you lie, they WILL find out, and you WILL be disqualified. Don't lie. All the usual garbage about rights, due process, and innocent until proven guilty does not apply here...if you screwed up, they will find out and they only need enough proof to satisfy themselves, not a jury. Honesty will buy you a lot of leeway.

 

I had already been to OTS, UPT, KC-135 School, Survival School, and halfway through my mission qual before my clearance was finished. Sometimes they get backed up on investigations...they called when I got back from UPT and they hadn't even started mine. Knowing what I know now, I would bug your unit's security manager every couple of months to check on how your clearance is progressing.

 

What?! wow... so if it so turns out that you DQ on the security clearance.. they spent all that money to train you for nothing...? I understand they're backed up, but seems a bit of a gamble to me.
I was looking forward to the day when my medical stuff and background check were all complete so I know for sure that I really have this slot instead of this feeling like it could be taken away at any moment. (I'm not even thinking ahead to training at this time, I just want to not get DQ-ed for anything first!) Before I got selected, it seemed like getting the interview and passing it was the hardest part of the game, boy was I wrong..

 

I'm sure the AF will do a rudimentary recruiting background check to look for obvious big issues. If you didn't lie to them and have no big issues, you are almost certainly OK. Stop worrying about it...unless you have something to worry about.

If you hiding something, you may need to consider confessing right now. You would still have a chance that way. If they find out you lied later you are 100% hosed.

 

kal

Getting through a military background check is usually no big deal. A defaulted loan isn't going to be a deal breaker. They will run a credit history along with a criminal background check on you. If you normally pay your bills on time, this will be a non-issue. Be honest when filling out your paperwork. Like someone said, they aren't loaning you money, they are looking for patterns of reliability and if you are a prime candidate for bribery.

They have backlogs of investigations. Your investigation will probably be completed somewhere in your training. If you are honest with them about your past (within reason, admitting to being a serial killer will probably be a rejected clearance), you will be OK. If they uncover untruthfullness, then it will be a difficult process.

Again, this usually isn't a big deal. It isn't some big hurdle that will get you dq'd.

 

OK... I guess it was just the uncertainty of the whole thing - not knowing what exactly they are looking for, and to what extent... Now I've some idea of it, thank you.
I don't have anything serious in my history, but god knows I haven't always been on my best behavior. but then again, probably neither has half the people on this board!