How many years did you serve before you got your first security clearance?

Submariner 1

4 months before I left for bootcamp, my Secret Clearance was Final.
At 10 years I got my Top Secret/SCI Clearance.

STS (Sonar Technician Submarines)

ADDED: Gugliamo.., Yes things have changed quiet a bit. When you have clearance it is good until it expires 15yrs CONF, 10 yrs SECRET, 5 yrs TS regardless of where you are. The need to know is the driving factor on acsess. Clearnace is not a cake walk, and not eveyone gets even CONF anymore, we have allot of Foreign Nationals in the service now, who cannot even see UNCLASS-NOFORN documents. And your intel statement, time they have a changed! lol

NAZGUL

Before I got out of BT in the AF Top Secret Crypt. for Minute Man Missile Maint. Spec.

Vet-USAF 44MMS Ellsworth AFB, SD>

jeeper_peeper321

While I was in Tech School I received my top secret SBI clearance.

So did everyone else.

It was required before you could do your job.

Was funny, right before I ETS'ed, they down graded everyone to a secret clearance, except me, since I had been stuck with the additional duty of maintaining the technical orders for the branch. So I got to keep my TS.

Former Missile Systems Analyst Technician - 31650

SFC_Ollie

US Army, I was a PFC (E3) about 7 months TIS and got a Secret Clearance. I was a new E5 with 4 years TIS when I got my TS.

CAUTION:Truth may hurt!

I had about a year and a half in before I got my TS. I was a PFC at the time, but am now an E-4, and still a 35F (formerly 96B).

You say confidential or above as if there is anything below confidential. Is the government now offering FOUO clearances or something?

Yak Rider

I got my Secret in "A" School, about 5 months after I went on active duty. I got a Top Secret SCI at about the 14 year mark of my career. I was an Aerographer's Mate.

gugliamo00

I honestly don't know when I received my first clearance... or even the level. But when I was "in the fleet," it was Top Secret.

I was Navy, and wore a lot of hats... including, for about 20 years, that of an officer. Our outfit was pretty well cross-trained.

But, just to set the record straight. You pretty much walk out of boot camp with a confidential. After that, you get whatever level of clearance you job requires. And no matter what level you have, you only have access to classified information on a need to know basis. You could have a TS clearance and not have access to confidential information that wasn't pertinent to your job. In the Navy (again, at least back when) once you leave a position that requires a high level of clearance, for one that has a lower requirement, you lose the higher. I knew a Navy Officer who worked at the Navy's Communication Center in Washington, DC. We never discussed our levels of clearance. But she was no doubt TS. A couple years later she was a Schedules Officer for a squadron based at NAS, Alameda, CA. She only had a confidential clearance ("cleared for ridiculous" she called it). A few years later, she was stationed in England... again with a TS clearance. I, on the other hand had TS for most of my 25 years... as I said, I'm not sure when it took effect or what clearance I had during my training. And, it didn't make any difference to me.

When I retired, I went to work for a management consulting firm with government contracts. Getting my Secret clearance was a slam-dunk... Think I had it in a couple of weeks. They just checked my military record.

Doesn't matter what level of clearance you have, you DO NOT have access to all the latest intelligence on anything not related to your job. Once you get on the Joint Chiefs of Staff, you probably will have a pretty good overview. But, until then, if you're a communications technician, or a cryptographer, you're only interested in getting the message out or decoded, and not its contents. And, even if you pick up something REALLY JUICY... you NEVER tell anybody. I know guys who have been out of the military for about 40 years, and then still don't talk about what the did. It's not because it was particularly bad, or that they're ashamed of it. The were ordered not to discuss certain things.

desertviking_00

1960. Hospital Corpsman. United States Navy. The other details are not for public display.

yarbigy

Russian forces. I got mine after two years. However, I was a draft private for two years, then I volunteer for Officer, and upon being accepted, I got the equivlent of USA Top Secret.

Infantry Officer. I have only actually dealt with this level of information on a few rare times.

path2631

it depends on your MOS if your and infantryman as suppose to an Intelligent Tech of course the Intel is going to get his quick an Infantryman may never ger one.

jason

i served about 9 months before getting my TS/SCI clearance...RM/IT USN

shlick

6 months in when I got my clearance as a PFC (E-2) in the marine corps.

armyman_432

it mainly depends on you MOS. I got an unofficial security clearance for my two week stint as a O-6 driver.

wichitaor1

Six months, then I started nuclear power school.

jefa

I had my Secret Clearance before I left for BMT because I had already chose my career instead of going in as Open. I just had to get it renewed this past July too. I'm a 2A0X1B in the Air Force.

sphalebop

I served in the 60's and received my sec, clearance when I needed it. There was no time requirement. Have you had a background check?

anoldmick

If I ever want to renew or upgrade my clearance, I can't answer that.

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