How Fraudulent Enlistment Hurts Your Security Clearance

Your Security Clearance and Fraudulent Enlistment: A Q&A

Trying to join the U.S. military means meeting specific requirements. While most people go through the enlistment process honestly, some might try to hide things from their past. This Q&A explores why doing so, known as fraudulent enlistment, can seriously jeopardize your ability to get and keep a security clearance.

According to the United States Code and the Uniform Code of Military Justice, Fraudulent enlistment, appointment, or separation involves:

Any person who— (1) procures his own enlistment or appointment in the armed forces by knowingly false representation or deliberate concealment as to his qualifications for that enlistment or appointment and receives pay or allowances thereunder;

or (2) procures his own separation from the armed forces by knowingly false representation or deliberate concealment as to his eligibility for that separation;

As you can see from the above, fraudulent enlistment happens when someone knowingly provides false information or intentionally leaves out important details that would make them ineligible for military service. This often involves hiding things like a criminal record, past drug use, or other issues that would prevent them from joining. The Department of Defense views this as a major betrayal of trust.

What Specifically Constitutes Fraudulent Enlistment?

Common examples include but may not be limited to:

• Failing to report arrests, convictions, or any other legal issues can severely impact your security clearance. Your criminal history is a major factor in determining your trustworthiness.
• Concealing past or current drug use raises concerns about your judgment and potential for substance abuse, which could compromise your ability to handle classified information responsibly.
• Hiding medical conditions, particularly mental health issues, can also affect clearances. These conditions might impair your judgment or reliability, posing a risk to national security.
• Misrepresenting college credentials or other requirements to enter at a higher rank or to commission as an officer.

When Fraudulent Enlistment is Discovered

• Denial of your security clearance: If the fraudulent enlistment is uncovered during your initial security clearance investigation, your application will likely be denied.
• Revocation of an existing security clearance: If the fraud is discovered after you’ve already been granted a clearance, that clearance can be immediately revoked. This often means losing your job, your access to secure areas, and can severely damage your career.
• Criminal charges: Beyond administrative actions like clearance denial or revocation, fraudulent enlistment can also lead to criminal charges under the Uniform Code of Military Justice (UCMJ). A criminal record can further complicate any future attempts to gain a security clearance.

Fraudulent enlistment can be uncovered and acted upon at any time. It’s not just a vulnerability during the security clearance screening process. Essentially, if your command becomes aware that you may be guilty of lying to get into uniformed service, you can be investigated before, during, or after the security clearance process.

Furthermore, your current clearance may be (depending on circumstances) suspended or revoked pending the outcome of a fraudulent enlistment investigation.

Why is Fraudulent Enlistment an Issue for a Security Clearance?

A security clearance is a stamp of approval that says you’re trustworthy enough to handle classified information. The process involves looking into your background to assess your character: honesty, reliability, and loyalty. If you’ve been dishonest during the commissioning or enlistment process, that raises red flags for those investigating you to approve your clearance. Honesty is the foundation of trust, and concealing information at the outset of your military career directly undermines that.

Does Fraudulent Enlistment Hurt My Chances for a Security Clearance?

It harms your chances in several ways:

• The very act of lying during enlistment shows you’re willing to deceive. Security clearance investigators value honesty above almost everything else. Any instance of deception, no matter how small you think it is, may lead to your clearance being denied or revoked.
• People often commit fraudulent enlistment to conceal things that would disqualify them from military service. The problem is, these same hidden details (like a criminal past or drug use) are often also disqualifying for a security clearance. When these facts eventually come to light during the clearance investigation, it creates serious doubts about your suitability for handling sensitive information.
• Security clearance investigations meticulously cross-reference information from many different sources. If what you told the military when you enlisted doesn’t match what investigators uncover, it triggers suspicion and intense scrutiny. This can lead to long delays, a denial of your clearance, or even the revocation of one you already have.
• Hiding information makes you vulnerable. If a foreign entity or an adversary discovers that you’ve concealed something important, they could try to exploit that secret, which is a significant national security risk. Security clearance adjudicators must consider this potential vulnerability.

Fraudulent Enlistment Vs. Defective Enlistment

Not all of what the DoD calls “defective enlistment” is considered the same as telling lies or omitting the truth in order to get a military job.

For example, it’s possible for a recruit to who does not qualify to be processed and shipped out to boot camp due to an error made by the recruiter. It’s also possible to apply and be erroneously accepted when the applicant is not of legal age to do so. In cases of so-called erroneous enlistment, military lawyers are guided by military guidelines. Each branch of the military has its own instructions on fraudulent and defective enlistment. Here’s an Army example:

“An enlistment, induction or extension of enlistment is erroneous if all the following apply:

(1) It

would not have occurred had the relevant facts been known by the Government or had appropriate directives been followed; (2) It was not the result of fraudulent conduct on the part of the Soldier; and (3) The defect is unchanged in material respects.

In the case of erroneous enlistment, troops may be offered an Honorable discharge and outprocessed.

Another example of erroneous enlistment and its eventual outcome:

“…When the Soldier is eligible for enlistment in the Army

but does not meet the prerequisites for the option for which enlisted. Soldiers separated under this paragraph will be awarded an honorable character of service unless an entry-level separation is required…”