Background checks

[Coregabo]

What sort of background checks go into becomming an officer? Do they do them before or after you enlist?

 

[TheBubba]

Before. The OCS application process just changed a bit... you do the security check as part of the initial application process, before your kit goes to the board for the professional reccomendation. Basically, its a requireent to pass the basic security clearance check to even be considered for OCS. Its the standard NSA background check that goes with a gov't security clearance.

You fill out the SF-86.. its amillion and a half pages long... goes into job history, drug use, police record, people you know, where you've lived, finacial history.. pretty much everything you can think of.

Hope that helps.

Cheers,
Bubba

 

[Jameski]

I'm filling mine out right now and I think it's a million and two-thirds pages long!! Be ready to drag up A LOT of information from back to seven years ago!! Fun stuff!

 

[kratebike]

And they will probably send it back to you because you did it wrong.

 

[Coregabo]

Do they actually call your old friends and stuff? I have a few who might not be happy to get a call from the Navy without a heads up.

 

[MIDNJAC]

I don't think it would be against any sort of confidentiality agreement to say that I know of people who have had family/friends questioned

 

[zippy]

And they will probably send it back to you because you did it wrong.

Or, make you resubmit it several times over because they lost it- again, and again, and again...

If they have you do the electronic version, save it on a disk or two for yourself... if its the paper version, save yourself a copy.

 

[zippy]

Do they actually call your old friends and stuff? I have a few who might not be happy to get a call from the Navy without a heads up.

Thats why you call them and tell them that you put them as a reference and explain to them that might happen...

 

[Jameski]

The thing is a pain! Knowing my luck, I'll get it sent back and it will also be lost!!

 

[DocT]

I know a guy who's background check didn't finally go through till he'd been in the fleet over 3 years. He was just about to pick up O-3. So yeah, I've heard they get lost too.

 

[Thisguy]

The real pain in the dick is listing everywhere you've lived the past five years, and a reference from each address. For college kids, moving happens every 8 months or so, and I was reaching to list people while I lived at this dorm, this apt, etc.

 

[Jameski]

That and you HAVE to have the middle name of each person...that sucks! It's hard to find the middle name of a supervisor I had 7 years ago, who I don't really remember his first and last name in the first place!

 

[zippy]

No you don't. You just have to put whatever the code for "unknown" is.

 

[Jameski]

Oh, good call zippy, thanks! I was working on it for about 6 hours last night and I think my mind just went numb so the unknown code was mute to me by then!

 

[wink]

Do they actually call your old friends and stuff? I have a few who might not be happy to get a call from the Navy without a heads up.

What kind of people are they!! Give me a break. An investigator is calling to ask a couple simple questions about a friend of theirs so that said friend might get a shot at his dream. They can not be bothered with that?? What, do they have to get their story straight or something? Are they afraid that by just talking to someone associated with the Navy (these are civ investigators) they might unwittingly commit to serve in the Navy or offend their peacenik sensibilities? Either you have real strange friends or you are not giving them enough credit.