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5,150,379 Individuals Hold a Security Clearance

Posted by Rob Riggins

ODNIThe Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI) released their 2013 Report on Security Clearance Determinations, providing details on the number of security clearances across government and contractors and metrics on the timeliness of security clearance determinations.

The number of individuals holding a security clearance increased 4.7% in 2013 vs 2012, for a total of 5,150,379 individuals.

The 2013 eligible for access figures show an increase of 5.3% over 2012 for Government clearance holders, a decline of .8% for Contractors and an increase of 17.3% for Other.

Individuals Holding a Security Clearance

Confidential / Secret

Top Secret

Government

2,886,106

851,920

Contractor

558,626

497,683

Other

175,859

180,185

Totals

3,620,591

1,529,788

Other includes individuals who held or were approved for security clearances but could not be categorized from the available data. All CVS, JPAS and SC data that couldn’t be categorized by employee type fell in this category.

Differentiating Between Eligibility for Access and Actual Access

This year ODNI has broken down the numbers between individuals eligible for access to classified information, which increased 232,628 year-over-year, and those who actually have access as of October 1, 2013, which declined by 27,064. The eligible for access numbers include individuals who have not yet worked with classified information or who no longer require access.

ODNI surmises that agencies are acting on Executive Order 12968 which directs them to keep access to a minimum.

Intelligence Community Processing Times and Issues

The report also provides Intelligence Community (IC) processing times and issues for the seven IC agencies or elements with delegated authority to conduct investigations or adjudications. Due to the variations in how data is collected with these groups, the numbers are a bit of a jumble.

However what the data shows is the group continues to face challenges with certain critical skill sets such as linguists who often have significant foreign contact.

ODNI creates this report yearly as a result of the Intelligence Authorization Act for Fiscal Year 2010, which requires the President to submit an annual report to Congress on the security clearance process.

Read the full 2013 Report on Security Clearance Determinations

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This entry was posted on Monday, April 21, 2014 9:33 am

6 thoughts on “5,150,379 Individuals Hold a Security Clearance”

    1. Larry, the report only breaks down between Conf/Secret and Top Secret. You can click on the link at the end of the article to view the full report. Thanks.

  1. I think I know the answer to this question. I had a TS with access in the seventies , after I ETSd from the army the clearance was retracted. I do not have any clearance at this time do I?
    Thanks

    1. E.Y. Sorry for the tardy response. Yes you are correct. You have a two-year window after transitioning during which your clearance is still current as long as your periodic reinvestigation doesn’t fall due in that window. After that timeframe your clearance has expired.

  2. Majority engineering jobs require CURRENT DOD & SCI clearances in order to consider job application. In last three years more aerospace engineers laid off or forced retired.
    Question: How can those engineers get back to work force unless US Government relax time period for validation time for previous clearance holder engineers longer duration like 9 years?
    Vicky

    1. Sorry for the late response Vicky. Continuous monitoring of individuals with security clearances is the direction that we are heading, so any relaxation of the time period for previous clearance holders is very unlikely.

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