| AFCIA NATIONAL CONFERENCE 2008 |
Mr. R. B. Peele is the Director of the Department of the Navy Central Adjudication Facility (DONCAF). In October 2004, Mr. Peele began employment with the Naval Criminal Investigative Service (NCIS) where he was the Deputy Assistant Director for Program Direction in the Combating Terrorism (CbT) operational directorate. Mr. Peele is a highly decorated retired U. S. Marine Corps Colonel who has an extensive background in counter terrorism and Marine Corps ground operations. Mr. Peele presented an interesting overview of the Mission regarding DONCAF and the challenges it faces. DONCAF has a staff in excess of thirty adjudicators whose responsibility is determining the suitability of applicants for positions within the Navy and Marine Corps for security clearances. These investigations are the responsibility of OPM who assumed these duties from DSS. Mr. Peele stressed the importance of detailed information and thorough investigations provided by the field investigators to the adjudicators in order to make a decision regarding the granting of clearances. He emphasized the critical nature of the time involved given the present military need for cleared individuals to be able to deploy on short notice. Mr. Peele provided the adjudicator has only the Report of Investigation (ROI) to make a decision therefore, it is critical that all i nformation contained in the ROI is accurate and complete. The presentation was very interesting and gave the attendees an insight of where the investigation goes once it is completed in the field. - Parus Dudley, AFCIA Board Member |
| R. B. Peele Director, DONCAF |
| Ms. Kathy Dillaman, Associate Director, Federal Investigative Services Division (FIS), OPM, presented the following statistics and discussed the improved timeliness and progress of the security clearance process: The Intelligence Reform and Terrorism Prevention Act of 2004 require 80 percent of the personnel security investigations for initial security clearances are completed within an average of 90 days. According to Ms. Dillaman, OPM is exceeding this statutory goal. The following chart shows OPM’s investigations processing timeliness for initial clearances that were initiated in FY 2007 and the first quarter of FY 2008. As a result of OPM's increased investigation staffing of over 9,300 Federal and contractor employees, there is no longer a backlog of initial clearance investigations due to insufficient manpower resources. Maintaining this staffing level has resulted in the substantial decrease in the time it takes to complete all types of background checks processed by OPM. In October 2006, over 98,000 pending initial clearance investigations were over 180 days in process. As of May 10, 2008, only 3,728 initial clearance investigations were pending over 180 days in process. ~ ~ Mary Cullings, AFCIA Vice President |
| Kathy Dillaman Associate Director, Federal Investigative Services Division |
| Mr. Dale Yeager, CEO, SERAPH, Inc., provided an outstanding presentation entitled, “The Forgotten Domestic Terrorists – Radical Left-Wing Terrorist Groups in America.” Mr. Yeager is a criminal analyst with extensive training in criminal psychology, forensic psychology, sex crimes investigation and crime scene forensics/procedures and domestic terrorism analysis. Mr. Yeager stressed that Investigators should remain constant in seeking facts, staying abreast and researching, in knowing what is going on in the world. For example, reading and staying knowledgeable and aware about groups who encourage extremism, such as gangs and right wing groups. Extremists and radicals support taking direct action, doing whatever it takes, to the extreme such as doing harm to or destroying property being considered acceptable as long as it initiates and/or results in action. One constant in human nature is aggression. Extremists and anarchists believe that what is most important is what is good for society - not individuals. Their approach is aggression and they advocate violence to get their point across. RECOMMENDED READING: “The Blank Slate” by Dr. Steven Pinker, 2002 For more information about SERAPH, Inc. - http://www.seraph.net ~ ~ Mary Cullings, AFCIA Vice President |
| Mr. Dale Yeager CEO, SERAPH, Inc. |
| Mr. Bob Anderson, Internet Blog Talk Radio Host, gave an informative discussion concerning radical Islam and international terrorism. Mr. Anderson articulated in his presentation as to how terrorist entities obtain necessary funding from suspect nations and charitable organizations operating inside the United States under the guise of innocence and authenticity. Mr. Anderson also identified avenues and presented interesting facts through unclassified “Open Sources” which could collectively, with minimal analysis, reveal compartmented information. He explained that through congressional records, financial data and even from political speeches and interviews, seemingly unrevealing information when combined with other open source material and information, could result in the improper release of classified information. Mr. Anderson referred to this methodology as “conduit compilation” in which any foreign intelligence service may engage in our open society of freedom of information. Mr. Anderson’s weekly show may be heard on the internet on Thursdays from 3-5pm EST by going to www.blogtalkradio.com. ~ ~ Matt Baumgartner, AFCIA Mid-Atlantic Regional Director |
| Bob Anderson |
| The Honorable Ronald J. James, the Assistant Secretary of the Army (Manpower & Reserve Affairs), is responsible for the supervision of the manpower, personnel and reserve component affairs for the Department of Army. In this position, he serves as the Army's principal responsible for policy and performance oversight for human resources (civilian and military), equal opportunity, equal employment opportunity, training, readiness, mobilization, military health affairs, force structure, manpower management and other critical matters as part of the Army leadership. Mr. James was the featured speaker on May 1, 2008 at the AFCIA National Conference. The Honorable James advised that we are in the 3rd longest war in history in Iraq with an all volunteer Army (which is the 1st all volunteer Army since the Revolutionary War in Colonial times). There have been 550,000 troops deployed to the middle- eastern combat zones, and 250,000 of these troops have been deployed multiple times. Mr. James stated that this is a different type of war from all other wars, in that the basic type of warfare is an army of 8 instead of great masses of soldiers engaged in massive battles and invasions. He stated that he attends many meetings on the Hill and throughout the country where he hears, many times, “this country is at war.” He explained, “The United States is not at war; the Army and Marine Corps are at war.” Mr. James explained that military suicides are up, and while the military is at war, the rest of the country is at the mall. While handling troops’ affairs, Mr. James’ Pentagon office is additionally involved with 500,000 spouses, and 700,000 children (of which one-half are 2 years old or younger). Prior to his current appointment, Mr. James served as a Senior Advisor to the Secretary of Homeland Security on personnel and employee relations for over 180,000 employees. In his previous position as Chief Human Capital Officer (CHCO), he was responsible for the design and implementation of the new mission focused MAXHR personnel system mandated by the Homeland Security, and he partnered with the DHS CIO and managed the reduction of nine payroll systems to two with the ultimate goal of one. Mr. James stated that there are real problems with timely, complete, and thorough background investigations for those who require security clearances, and with OPM conducting the majority of the background investigations, the problem will "not be fixed", and sadly, while he recognizes the problem, he does not have a solution. The Honorable James applauds the AFCIA, and their efforts to right the security clearance ship, and the time, energy, work, and contributions the AFCIA is making in their attempts to make this a more secure nation. ~ ~ Russell O. Vail, AFCIA Central Regional Director |
| Ronald J. James Assistant Secretary of the Army Manpower & Reserve Affairs |
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