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"That has resulted in an awkward arrangement, akin to sending a warship into battle with its skipper stuck onshore." This seems a bit overstated. Its more akin
by StudyAnimal 11y ago
"That has resulted in an awkward arrangement, akin to sending a warship into battle with its skipper stuck onshore."
This seems a bit overstated. Its more akin to the head of NASA not having a space suit, or the head of the Olympics Committee taking 40 seconds to run the 100m. He is basically a pen-pusher at this stage, chasing funding, greasing up to politicians, attending banquets. I think it is good he cannot see secrets, he doesn't need to, he has staff for that.
- ZanyProgrammer 11y agoIt looks bad to lower ranks, who'd have their security clearances and (most importantly) jobs taken away for much smaller (but at the same time, bigger) infractions. Its like the former sheriff of San Francisco County staying on his job after a domestic violence conviction.
- hudibras 11y agoIt's actually fairly common for military members to lose their clearances temporarily pending the results of an investigation.
- ZanyProgrammer 11y agoI'm thinking more along the lines of a junior enlisted soldier with a clearance who tests positive for pot during a random urinalysis.
- hudibras 11y agoIt's basically the same scenario: the clearance will get pulled until the investigation is complete. The difference here is that the drug case will be resolved in a few days, as opposed to this prolonged federal criminal case involving millions of dollars and potentially dozens or hundreds of defendants.
- 086421357909764 11y agoSadly it's not so fast. I saw it take months for an article hearing after an investigation (the duration of which clearances were suspended). It's not until then can an adjudicator assess and with the backlog that existed prior to the extra scrutiny the snowden issues have brought, i'd be hard pressed to believe the timeline was anything under 12 months at a minimum. Another issues is some facilities require a clearance simply to visit HQ which often times is very well removed from the actual operations. When you can get a Campus Access Badge, often times pending adjudications like this can stop even that access. The whole system is rather antiquated.
- hudibras 11y ago>I think it is good he cannot see secrets, he doesn't need to, he has staff for that. I think you're underestimating how important classified material is in the day-to-day operations of the military. He doesn't have access to any classified material, even down to the CONFIDENTIAL level. Every U.S. Navy officer has at least a SECRET clearance as the "default," and a ensign would be hard-pressed to work without a clearance, let alone a 3-Star.