I'm currently in the military for an intelligence job (don't want to be any more specific) but I am still in tech school.  I have received the temporary TS-SCI clearance required to enter the school houses on base.  My current orders say I am to be stationed at Ft. Mead Maryland, NSA HQ as my first duty station.  And apparently to work at any NSA field site a polygraph test is required.

I am rather worried about the poly.  I'm a good guy and I have nothing on my written record, but I do have a more shady past than the military knows about.  Drugs in particular, more than the average person I imagine, more than I'd like to admit.  I know the drugs question on the test will be a problem.

My question is this: What happens if I fail?  Horrible things?  Jail time?

In all honesty I'm not sure if I even want to be in the military now that I have had a taste of it.  I hate myself for saying that, and hate myself even more for not being willing to fulfill my contract, but it's how I feel.  I could "slip up" and fail a few tests and have the option to be re-classed or possibly get out completely(so I'm told).  I really doubt I will fail any of the tests as I am doing quite well in the class, so I would need to purposefully do so.

Any information would be much appreciated.  I don't currently have a date set for my poly, but I am still kind of freaking out about it.

The purpose of the polygraph, as any intelligent polygrapher with experience knows, is not primarily about detecting deception: it is to deter unwanted behavior and to prompt confessions.  If it does those two things, why worry about whether or not it can detect deception with anything approaching reasonable accuracy?

Antis need to realize this.  Often, we try to discuss accuracy rates with Polis and become bewildered at how unconcerned they are with both anecdotal examples of inaccurate results and statistical evidence of inaccuracy.  But they don't really care about that.  It'd be like trying to convince Picasso that Guernica isn't a very realistic looking painting--he doesn't care, it's a great piece of art.  Likewise, most Polies don't care much about accuracy rates so long as they can deter bad behavior and elicit confessions.

Obviously, the Polygraph failed in your case to deter bad behavior (it's not very well employed to do so in society at large, nor can it be, since that would prompt to much debate on and investigation of the polygraph.  It can only successfully deter behavior within an organization, a police department, government agency, or military branch).  Whether or not it succeeds in eliciting a confession from you it up to you.

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bsce711,

You're right that everyone at Fort Meade goes through a polygraph. And I think that everyone seeking a position of public trust has an ethical obligation to answer relevant questions truthfully. Pigface's past drug use -- even if admitted -- is not likely to prevent him/her from holding the requisite TS/SCI security clearance, so long as it pre-dates his/her military service.

As you point out, military personnel detailed to NSA are subjected to counterintelligence-scope polygraph examinations rather than the "lifestyle" polygraphs that regular employees face. So pigface in all likelihood won't be polygraphed about his/her past drug use. In fact, virtually all military personnel who don't make damaging admissions pass their CI-scope polygraph examinations. Federal polygraph examiners know that the base rate for espionage is very low, so politically, they cannot afford to fail more than a small number of examinees on counterintelligence issues per year.

But it's worth keeping in mind that polygraph "testing" is junk science. Polygraphy has no scientific basis, is inherently biased against the truthful, and yet is easily thwarted through the use of simple countermeasures.

It is a national disgrace that our government pretends to assess the honesty and integrity of applicants and employees based on this fraudulent procedure. By way of example, see fed-up's recent post:

https://antipolygraph.org/cgi-bin/forums/YaBB.pl?num=1220804779

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I used to think the same thing.

You'd change your tune  if you failed the test despite telling the truth.  And, as a consequence, lost your access, and worst yet, your colleagues at the fort started thinking (erroneously)  that you were some kind of spy or something.  Then there is your family, friends, neighbors...etc.  All in the name of fake science and bureaucratic efficiency.

Most important is the fact that the intel community relies far to much on the test, mainly for bureaucratic reasons.  As a result, they put our national security at risk.

Check out the following story concerning the Kunia RSOC (my last duty station):

http://www.infosecnews.org/pipermail/isn/2007-December/015670.html

The people involved must have managed to pass their polygraphs.  In fact, some of the biggest spies and criminals in history have passed polygraphs.  While honest, trustworthy people are routinely branded as being just the opposite.  Other than that, it's a pretty good test.

Like George said, most military folks detailed at NSA pass their polygraphs, and most people actually think the test to be accurate.  It is one of those cases where you have to come up "false positive" to really appreciate the truth.   

T.M. Cullen
CTI1  USN(ret)

P.S.  Never criticize a person until you've "walked a mile in his shoes".
That way, when you do criticize him, you'll be a mile away from him, and YOU'LL HAVE HIS SHOES!!!!!   

I don't know Cliff, how are things in South Africa?