1) I am in MOS 98X, and I have read elsewhere on the site that having personal debt is a red flag for TS clearance. I have a mortgage and some credit card debt. Should I take a second mortgage on my property and finance all of my credit card debt to have it all secured? Or, should I sell the property, pay off the debt and go in with a clean financial record?

2) I will be going to Ft. Leonard Wood in Missouri for BCT. Should I buy my own running shoes or will they require me to purchase them at the PX?

Thank you,

Alan Carey

A mortgage and a credit card should not hinder a security clearance. What they are looking for is excessive debt and your ability to make the payments.

They shouldn't require you to buy new shoes, but they sometimes do anyway. If you bring them and can't use them, they'll just sit in storage and will probably be no worse off when you get them out.
If you aren't picky about your shoes and tight on cash, wait till you get there to buy new shoes.

Do you know if I will be questioned about this, should it be an issue, or will they declare me acceptable or unacceptable and not give me a chance to clarify?

Thank you for your insight into the matter.

The'll ask you a general "do you have any debt?" question and then for how long. I do not seriously think the Army expects everyone to have their houses paid off!

You can be sure they'll tell you gotta buy new shoes, unless things have changed as they always do in the Army If you got time try on as many pairs of shoes they give you, cuz runnng around in bad shoes will jack you up real fast.

Well, I had paid off a loan from a bank and it was accidentally reported as a "write-off" by the bank (which ade it look as though I did not pay, and the bank was forced to eat the debt.) I got called in an office and they told me that my clearance was being held up by this situation, gave me the info that they had and said that if I did indeed pay it off, to have the bank contact them with some information.

So yes, I would imagine after they started the investigation and started to put money into it, they will try to give you the benefit of the doubt before $hit-canning your clearance application.

quote:

having personal debt is a red flag for TS clearance

It is my understanding that they do not want you to have excessive debt. Meaning that you are not so far into debt that a bad guy will be able to tempt you into spying by offering to help alleviate some of your debt.

Do you think this kind of situation would also adversely affect a regular "Secret" clearance being granted? If so, how quickly would it probably come up? I have some credit issues from years past - none that are still active, but some credit card write-offs from my lean and hungry years (literally speaking).

SECRET is a bit of an odd clearance. I have seen people get a clearance who I thought there would be no way in hell they would, and seen other denied for very minor things. Biggest thing is just ensure that you were totally honest on the paperwork. If it has been a few years since your money problems, and things are looking good for you now, i wouldn't worry about it to much.