CD Approval

[0]

For those of  you seniors who are CD qualified once you got your paper work to your Wing HQ about how long did it take till you were told if you were approved or not?

[DKruse]

Sent mine in a little over 3 years ago.  I'm still waiting........

[jeders]

If it takes longer than a year, resubmit. Otherwise it can take upwards of 8 months or more.

[Larry Mangum]

It can really vary.  I am not sure if this is the current process, but I know it was the process used at least a year ago.

1. National received applications from the various wings. These applications are bundled into a batch and the batch submitted to the DEA\Custom's Clearing house in El Paso, TX.
2.  If El Paso finds a problem with one application in the whole batch, the entire batch is rejected and sent back to NHQ.
3. NHQ removes the bad application and resubmits the batch. If no more problems are found with the paperwork in the batch, then the batch is processed.  Problems found, batch sent back to NHQ and cycle begins again.

So as you can see, it can take a long while to be approved through no fault of your own not of NHQ. they are at the mercy of the DEA\Customs process.  I do know that NHQ is trying to improve the process.

In my case, it took over a year and eventually I had to resubmit as my application was lost.

[RiverAux]

That is the dumbest thing I've ever heard.  Reject the whole batch because there was a problem with one of them?  No wonder the drug war is going so well.

[jb512]

I submitted mine a year ago and received a confirmation from our CD staff that it was received and sent on its way.

I checked on it a few months ago and was told that they had never heard of me.

I didn't resubmit.

[lordmonar]

CD approval is very problematical....took mine about six months to process....and I got a FREAKING active TS/SCI clearance!

From what I understand there is one guy at DEA who approves CAP CD credentials...and if he is busy he does not do them.

Keep checking on it, check with your wing CD to make sure it processed and hope for the best.

[bosshawk]

OK, folks, here I go again.

The process is pretty straight forward: at least until it gets to National.

One, you fill out a Form 83 and submit it directly to the Wing CD Officer(in CAWG, that is me).  I sign it and send it to the Wing Commander for his/her signature.  Then, it goes directly to National, where there is one lady who processes all these things for CAP.  She sends them to the El PAso Intelligence Center(EPIC), a multi-agency operation which includes DEA, Customs and US Forest Service.  Each of those three agencies screens the form against their LAW ENFORCEMENT data base for information of Joe Member, CAP.  Each of those three agencies have the authority to accept or reject any member.  Get rejected, that is it: you have no recourse and you will not get an explanation.  After each agency screens your form, then National is notified and you get approved to participate in the CAP CD program.

There is absolutely no connection between this and the fact that you may have or have had a security clearance for any government agency.

You have to undergo this screening every four years and you have to complete the online CD training every two years.

Right now, the rescreening for members already admitted to the program is taking from two weeks to six or eight months.  For a newbie, the screening is currently taking six weeks to over a year.  It solely depends on how busy the agents of DEA, Customs and the Forest SErvice are: they do it strictly on the basis of how much time they have available.  CAP does not enjoy much priority with them.

I have a lot of experience doing this whole process:  I have about 325 CAWG members already screened and participating.

If you have questions PM me, please.  Like everything else in CAP, there are more rumors and misinformation floating around than there are people to put out the firs.

When in doubt, read CAP Reg 60-6.

[RiverAux]

Can you confirm that a whole batch of applications will get sent back to CAP if one applicant in the batch is rejected?

[LittleIronPilot]

OK, folks, here I go again.

The process is pretty straight forward: at least until it gets to National.

One, you fill out a Form 83 and submit it directly to the Wing CD Officer(in CAWG, that is me).  I sign it and send it to the Wing Commander for his/her signature.  Then, it goes directly to National, where there is one lady who processes all these things for CAP.  She sends them to the El PAso Intelligence Center(EPIC), a multi-agency operation which includes DEA, Customs and US Forest Service.  Each of those three agencies screens the form against their LAW ENFORCEMENT data base for information of Joe Member, CAP.  Each of those three agencies have the authority to accept or reject any member.  Get rejected, that is it: you have no recourse and you will not get an explanation.  After each agency screens your form, then National is notified and you get approved to participate in the CAP CD program.

There is absolutely no connection between this and the fact that you may have or have had a security clearance for any government agency.

You have to undergo this screening every four years and you have to complete the online CD training every two years.

Right now, the rescreening for members already admitted to the program is taking from two weeks to six or eight months.  For a newbie, the screening is currently taking six weeks to over a year.  It solely depends on how busy the agents of DEA, Customs and the Forest SErvice are: they do it strictly on the basis of how much time they have available.  CAP does not enjoy much priority with them.

I have a lot of experience doing this whole process:  I have about 325 CAWG members already screened and participating.

If you have questions PM me, please.  Like everything else in CAP, there are more rumors and misinformation floating around than there are people to put out the firs.

When in doubt, read CAP Reg 60-6.

Thanks for the insight...and for showing how broken the process is.

It SHOULD matter that someone has a clearance, especially a [darn] TS/TSI. For crying out loud, someone with that level of clearance has been roto-routered.

This is just another fine example of government waste and overlap.

[Flying Pig]

It probably should, but law enforcement doesn't use "Secret" or "Top Secret" security clearances.   Again, like Bosshawk stated, its not the background itself, its getting an agent to take the time to do it. 

I know people who have had military clearances who failed the background check for police work, and I believe Bosshawk told me a few stories of law enforcement officers who were denied access to the CAP/CD program. It took me about 7-8 months to get mine done, and I fly law enforcement dope missions all the time.  I know of a professional landscaper who got his in 2 months.

I would encourage everyone who is qualified to get involved in it.  It can be pretty rewarding and you get to meet some good people running around CAP.  It can expose you to a side of CAP most people never get to see.

[Tubacap]

^ I concur.  I have had more positive experiences here than anywhere else, and we are able to keep a "schedule" of sorts.  Very rewarding work.

[bosshawk]

Looks like someone reads these posts.  Two comments: I can neither confirm or deny that 83s are submitted in batches and stay in batches while being processed.  It sounds like a bad rumor, but I really don't know.

Secondly: having a security clearance gives one access to classified information held by the US Government: I should know, I held all sorts of alphabet soup letter clearances from 1957 until 2005.  The CAP CD screening is solely done in respect to what kind of information is available in LAW ENFORCEMENT data bases.  There are all sorts of people with minor LE violations who hold security clearances.  I can clearlly say that I know of people who are screened and participating in the CAP CD program whom I wouldn't touch with a ten foot pole for a securitly clearance.

By the way, there doesn't appear to be much cross over between the LE agencies and the intel agencies when it comes to information exchange, particularly about people.

[0]

^ I concur.  I have had more positive experiences here than anywhere else, and we are able to keep a "schedule" of sorts.  Very rewarding work.

That's why I signed up. 

[DNall]

Looks like someone reads these posts.  Two comments: I can neither confirm or deny that 83s are submitted in batches and stay in batches while being processed.  It sounds like a bad rumor, but I really don't know.

Secondly: having a security clearance gives one access to classified information held by the US Government: I should know, I held all sorts of alphabet soup letter clearances from 1957 until 2005.  The CAP CD screening is solely done in respect to what kind of information is available in LAW ENFORCEMENT data bases.  There are all sorts of people with minor LE violations who hold security clearances.  I can clearlly say that I know of people who are screened and participating in the CAP CD program whom I wouldn't touch with a ten foot pole for a securitly clearance.

By the way, there doesn't appear to be much cross over between the LE agencies and the intel agencies when it comes to information exchange, particularly about people.

That's really unfortunate.