The Coast Guard is phasing in a new federal-personnel vetting system that will reduce risk by continuously reviewing an person's background at any time during their career with the federal government.
Trusted Workforce (TW) 2.0 has been implemented across all U.S. government agencies and is designed to perform real-time automated record checks – not just for a hiring or security clearance determination – but throughout a person’s employment. TW 2.0 will eventually reduce the time required to onboard new hires and eliminate the need for the periodic reinvestigations (PR) traditionally required every five to 10 years to retain a security clearance.
Who is affected?
All Coast Guard members (military, civilian, and contractors) will be affected by TW 2.0. The Coast Guard has already enrolled 80% of its approximately 63,000 national security population in continuous vetting. This includes secret and top-secret clearance holders, as well as people in sensitive positions that could impact national security even if they don’t have access to classified information.
The remainder of the workforce, including those in low and moderate-risk or public trust positions, will be added in the final phase, which could be completed as early as fall of 2023.
How does Continuous Vetting work?
Continuous vetting pulls information from a range of sources such as criminal activity, terrorism, and financial databases. Any activity that might cause concern – from unusual bank transactions to an arrest – may trigger an alert.
At the Coast Guard, DCMS-342 Security Center (SECCEN) is responsible for receiving and assessing the alert – determining whether mitigation information can be obtained from the person or if it should be referred to the Coast Guard Investigative Service (CGIS) or Insider Threat.
Essentially, this new approach modernizes the process, notes DCMS-34 Coast guard chief Security Officer Gregory Govan. “Trusted Workforce 2.0 moves the federal government away from practices rooted in the 1950’s by combatting real-time threats with real-time information,” he said.
Do I still have to do a Periodic Reinvestigation?
If it’s time for your periodic reinvestigation submission, you will continue to submit an Electronic Questionnaire for Investigations Processing (e-QIP) for DCMS-342 Security Center review to determine continuous vetting enrollment eligibility.
If you have additional questions contact Sylvester Mitchell or Stacey Jefferson. In the coming months, look for more information regarding TW 2.0 on the DCMS-34 (Security Policy) and DCMS-342 (SECCEN) Portal Page.