Yesterday I was finally cleared by the NSA with a TS/SCI.  The thing is, the NSA is offering me a lower salary to become an NSA Staff worker, than what I am making now at a corporation.  My question is, since NSA paid for my clearance, will I be able to have another company buy my clearance, and refuse NSA's offer and become a contractor and make A LOT more money with my TS/SCI clearance?  Or will NSA expect me to work for them as NSA Staff since my clearance paid for by the NSA?  Will the NSA try to terminate my TS clearance if I try to leave before I start working there, and try to work at a defense company as a contractor in order to make the big bucks?  Am I expected to work at NSA?

Dear RBJONES6,

Please read your interim letter of appointment carefully.  Most letters are crafted that your security clearance is not final until your first day on the job.  Agencies do this because it is at least two weeks from getting an appointment letter to employment.  If they granted you a clearance before employment begins, you could feasibly break a law or do something that would affect your clearance (get a lot of bad publicity by driving drunk, possibly killing someone,  domestic fight which gets newspaper press or something similar).

NSA could become very irrate that you failed to report for duty as scheduled.  They would claim that you did not meet reporting requirements and such requirments were a condition of you receiving your clearance.  They would not even have to "rescind" such clearance since they will state that it was never issued.

NoName is correct that after you are issued a clearance, it is normally accepted until the time of its expiration or next review.  Always remember that clearances are on a need to know (or have) and are automatically pulled until a government agency or law requires them to be reinstalled.  If your investigative information on file meets all requirements, it is much easier to be reinstalled.

Regards.

NSA security are assholes - if you quit right away, more than likely, they will hold up the transfer of your clearance, under the guise of some issue.  Accept an offer from a contractor, and wait until your clearance is transferred, before you quit the Government.  NSA will get you, when you change companies, or go between Government and contractors.  They got me leaving the Government and going to a contractor.  Still, this is no guarantee - the atmosphere at NSA has become extremely hostile, as they are under-the-gun to find targets and continue their illegal activities against US citizens.

my spo5use who i just married this past december has a felony from 2005..will that affect me from going from a ts  to sci