# Who has/had a Top Secret clearance? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [March 1, 2016, 4:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-has-had-a-top-secret-clearance/747646 "2016-03-01T16:30:05Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2016, 4:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-has-had-a-top-secret-clearance/747646/1 "2016-03-01T16:30:05Z")
Who has, or had, a Top Secret security clearance? ---
**Author:** ![Chihuahua](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/dec6dc/32.png) [@Chihuahua](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chihuahua)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2016, 4:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-has-had-a-top-secret-clearance/747646/2 "2016-03-01T16:40:16Z")
Yup, that’s a really smart thing to put on the internet. ---
**Author:** ![FairyChatMom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fairychatmom/32/21906_2.png) [@FairyChatMom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FairyChatMom)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2016, 5:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-has-had-a-top-secret-clearance/747646/3 "2016-03-01T17:08:11Z")
I had one. Now I’m retired and I don’t need one. One of my sisters had one - she was a front desk guard at a facility where everyone was cleared. I’m pretty sure she just needed the clearance to be able to walk in the door - I know she didn’t have access to anything beyond a personnel roster. I have a cousin-in-law who used to be all secretive about working at NSA - then I found out he was a bean-counter. Not surveillance-type - he was an in-house accountant or something and nothing to do with intelligence, but he liked to have people think he was doing spook work. :rolleyes: ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2016, 5:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-has-had-a-top-secret-clearance/747646/4 "2016-03-01T17:14:26Z")
> [@Chihuahua](#): > > Yup, that’s a really smart thing to put on the internet. I was kind of hoping everyone would vote Option 4. 😛 ---
**Author:** ![Sattua](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sattua/32/11906_2.png) [@Sattua](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sattua)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2016, 6:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-has-had-a-top-secret-clearance/747646/5 "2016-03-01T18:46:28Z")
I used to, but it lapsed years ago when I quit that job. The company I worked for needed a certain number of people who had one in order to qualify for military contracts, IIRC. I never actually handled any classified information. It was a total hoot to be grilled by an FBI agent. I enjoyed it immensely. ---
**Author:** ![billfish678](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7bcc69/32.png) [@billfish678](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/billfish678)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2016, 6:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-has-had-a-top-secret-clearance/747646/6 "2016-03-01T18:58:11Z")
> [@Sattua](#): > > It was a total hoot to be grilled by an FBI agent. I enjoyed it immensely. The best part is when you yell at them that they “can’t handle the truth!” That puts them on edge. THEN you tell them that that you “pay their salary”. A fatal one two blow every time. ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2016, 7:01pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-has-had-a-top-secret-clearance/747646/7 "2016-03-01T19:01:38Z")
> [@Chihuahua](#): > > Yup, that’s a really smart thing to put on the internet. What possible difference could it make without names to go along with it? It wasn’t exactly a secret when my clearances were active, let alone relevant now that they’ve lapsed. ---
**Author:** ![pulykamell](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pulykamell/32/3166_2.png) [@pulykamell](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pulykamell)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2016, 7:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-has-had-a-top-secret-clearance/747646/8 "2016-03-01T19:10:14Z")
> [@Chefguy](#): > > What possible difference could it make without names to go along with it? It wasn’t exactly a secret when my clearances were active, let alone relevant now that they’ve lapsed. Exactly. Who gives a shit? And even if you know who the people with TS clearances are, does it really matter? At any rate, as a poll, I assume there’s going to be a huge skew here towards people who have or want to claim TS clearances. Most everyone else is going to ignore the poll. ---
**Author:** ![steronz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/steronz/32/11765_2.png) [@steronz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/steronz)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2016, 7:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-has-had-a-top-secret-clearance/747646/9 "2016-03-01T19:17:18Z")
> [@pulykamell](#): > > Exactly. Who gives a shit? It’s bad OPSEC, and anyone who cares about good OPSEC won’t post. Up until recently, clearance holders weren’t supposed to put clearance info on _resumes_ for jobs that required clearances. I’m pretty sure that’s still the guidance, but it’s most often ignored. ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2016, 7:31pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-has-had-a-top-secret-clearance/747646/10 "2016-03-01T19:31:40Z")
> [@steronz](#): > > It’s bad OPSEC, and anyone who cares about good OPSEC won’t post. Up until recently, clearance holders weren’t supposed to put clearance info on _resumes_ for jobs that required clearances. I’m pretty sure that’s still the guidance, but it’s most often ignored. Given the fact that my last clearance of any kind expired in around 2006 and my last TS clearance expired in 1998, I don’t think OPSEC is an issue. ---
**Author:** ![steronz](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/steronz/32/11765_2.png) [@steronz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/steronz)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2016, 7:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-has-had-a-top-secret-clearance/747646/11 "2016-03-01T19:50:47Z")
> [@Chefguy](#): > > Given the fact that my last clearance of any kind expired in around 2006 and my last TS clearance expired in 1998, I don’t think OPSEC is an issue. Fair point 🙂 For some it won’t matter, for others… ---
**Author:** ![zoid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zoid/32/336_2.png) [@zoid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zoid)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2016, 8:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-has-had-a-top-secret-clearance/747646/12 "2016-03-01T20:02:20Z")
No one’s gonna say it?! ---
**Author:** ![Rick\_Kitchen](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/rick_kitchen/32/522_2.png) [@Rick\_Kitchen](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Rick_Kitchen)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2016, 8:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-has-had-a-top-secret-clearance/747646/13 "2016-03-01T20:02:47Z")
I had one when I was doing computer work for US Air Force Europe, but lost it when I left that job. ---
**Author:** ![bump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7c8e57/32.png) [@bump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bump)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2016, 8:44pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-has-had-a-top-secret-clearance/747646/14 "2016-03-01T20:44:10Z")
I do not, nor have I ever had any sort of government clearance. However, a very close friend of mine once had “Top Secret” clearance, and I was actually phone interviewed by some government types (FBI?) about him. Anyway, he used to be a technical writer for TI back when they made missiles and bombs, and then transitioned into an IT career (he has a computer science degree w/ English minor). He told me that in his experience the “cool” stuff about missiles and precision guided bombs was mostly declassified- the cool videos, drawings, etc… and that the really classified stuff was the driest, most boring stuff on the planet- detailed technical specs on thread pitches and connectors and other horribly mundane crap. ---
**Author:** ![billfish678](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/7bcc69/32.png) [@billfish678](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/billfish678)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2016, 8:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-has-had-a-top-secret-clearance/747646/15 "2016-03-01T20:45:15Z")
> [@zoid](#): > > No one’s gonna say it?! If I told you I’d have to have sex with you? ---
**Author:** ![Johnny\_L.A](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/johnny_l.a/32/1084_2.png) [@Johnny\_L.A](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Johnny_L.A)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2016, 8:58pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-has-had-a-top-secret-clearance/747646/16 "2016-03-01T20:58:03Z")
> [@zoid](#): > > No one’s gonna say it?! [OK](http://pw1.netcom.com/~heliboy/vx4.gif). ---
**Author:** ![Misnomer](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/misnomer/32/14897_2.png) [@Misnomer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Misnomer)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2016, 9:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-has-had-a-top-secret-clearance/747646/17 "2016-03-01T21:04:35Z")
> [@steronz](#): > > Up until recently, clearance holders weren’t supposed to put clearance info on _resumes_ for jobs that required clearances. I’m pretty sure that’s still the guidance Several years ago an FSO told me that you can list clearance info on your resume, up to and including TS/SCI. They’re not crazy about it, but it’s not technically against the rules. What they _don’t_ want you to list is any specific accesses/compartments. I believe it’s also ok to indicate that you have a poly, but they prefer that you not list what kind. Specific guidance might vary FSO by FSO (even agency by agency), though, and I haven’t asked anyone since that one guy. _Not that I can confirm or deny that I either have or have ever had a clearance. 😃_ ---
**Author:** ![Skywatcher](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/skywatcher/32/254_2.png) [@Skywatcher](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Skywatcher)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2016, 9:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-has-had-a-top-secret-clearance/747646/18 "2016-03-01T21:09:22Z")
I’m bottom Secret. 😉 ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2016, 9:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-has-had-a-top-secret-clearance/747646/19 "2016-03-01T21:19:31Z")
I had a Top Secret. To which everyone said “What good is that without TS-SCI?” Well I thought at the time that I wanted to go into a MI MOS and I needed it as a prerequisite. I didn’t. I needed my Secret clearance often but never my TS. It should be expired by now and I certainly won’t be using it. ---
**Author:** ![Asimovian](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asimovian/32/172_2.png) [@Asimovian](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Asimovian)\ **Post date:** [March 1, 2016, 9:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-has-had-a-top-secret-clearance/747646/20 "2016-03-01T21:20:30Z")
Former TS-SCI holder. It was never as exciting as I’d imagined. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-has-had-a-top-secret-clearance/747646.md?page=2)