# Clearance level for Sig Op and Officer



## fcz (10 Apr 2008)

I applied for Comm Res Sig Op two weeks ago, and had Enhanced Reliability clearance from my civilian job in 2007. Unit recuiter told me that I might need higher clearance level, so he gave me a long security clearance form to fill up just in case. Wondering what level Sig Op has to have, and how about Sig Officer? 

I immigrated to Canada and am a proud Canadian now, but I also have immediate relatives abroad, will that jeopardize my chance of getting higher security clearance and getting into Comm Res? I signed up for Sig Op but my goal is Sig offiicer, will that EVER be possible 'cause I am not born Canadian?


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## medaid (10 Apr 2008)

Talk to CFRC/D they'll give you a better idea. All start off with Enhanced, just because you had it before doesn't mean it's still valid. You'll have to achieve the required Second Clearance for your MOC. Failure to do so or to maintain your Second Clearance is grounds for dismissal or MOT.


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## garb811 (10 Apr 2008)

Don't worry about what level you "need", just fill out the forms and you'll be granted the clearance you need if eligable.  Most people don't need to worry about relatives overseas.


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## George Wallace (10 Apr 2008)

garb811 said:
			
		

> Don't worry about what level you "need", just fill out the forms and you'll be granted the clearance you need if eligable.  Most people don't need to worry about relatives overseas.



As more and more Trades Req a minimum of Level II, that does become a concern, especially if those relatives may be untraceable, or are living in a 'Scheduled' country.  

I would imagine that you will require to go back a minimum of ten years back with all your data (Places  you lived, Places you worked, Places you went to school, etc.) and three good References, to get the Clearance you will require.  You will also have to be fingerprinted and have your photo taken, as you will probably need a Lvl III, which takes nearly forever to get.


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## Sig_Des (10 Apr 2008)

Lvl III is the required clearance for Sig Op.


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## fcz (10 Apr 2008)

The long security form does go back 10 years for my residence and employment, and for character reference not only I have to produce 3 references with min 3 years, but also a neighbour over 6 months... the recuiter hinted that the some guys in the unit hold Top Secret clearance

Now I feel that I may never get that, not because my character... I am a model citizen wherever I go... just because my birth place... but who can control his or her own birth ... discouraged and disappointed...


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## Sig_Des (10 Apr 2008)

You never know.

Fill out the forms honestly and to the best of your ability, do not miss any information, and wait out.

Be advised that discrepancies will lengthen the clearance time.

Put in the paperwork you were given, and see what happens.


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## George Wallace (10 Apr 2008)

fcz said:
			
		

> Now I feel that I may never get that, not because my character... I am a model citizen wherever I go... just because my birth place... but who can control his or her own birth ... discouraged and disappointed...



Just follow the advice you have been given.  Don't leave any gaps in your Employment or Residence dates.  There can not be any periods of time between where you lived in one place and moved/worked in another.  Do not use a University Dorm as an address; use your parents home address - or the address where your Taxes are mailed to.  In other words, don't use Temporary addresses; use permanent addresses.

Where you were born has very little relevance as to whether or not you will get a Clearance.  People have been getting high level clearances who have been born in Russia, Argentina, India, etc.  What holds your clearance up most often is Criminal checks that go back ten years, especially if that information must be found in a foreign nation that does not have reciprocity agreements with Canada.  If you have a relative in a foreign land who is a member of a Terrorist or Criminal organization will also greatly slow down your Clearance.  If you don't have any of those worries, then you shouldn't worry about it.


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## Greymatters (10 Apr 2008)

George Wallace said:
			
		

> Do not use a University Dorm as an address; use your parents home address - or the address where your Taxes are mailed to.  In other words, don't use Temporary addresses; use permanent addresses.



Kind of like putting down your home unit location rather than all the places you temporarily deployed to during your x number of years at that unit...?


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## fcz (10 Apr 2008)

You guys probably won't believe this, as soon as I saw Beadwindow 7's reply that Lvl III is required, I jumped in my car and drove to the reserve unit... I submitted the long clearance form because I don't want to waste x months just waiting for someone ask for that.

also I told the recruiter to put Sig Officer as my 1st choice, and Sig Op as 2nd, since Lvl III is required anyway why not aim higher.

Appreciate encouragement here, will see what happens next .


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## George Wallace (10 Apr 2008)

fcz said:
			
		

> You guys probably won't believe this, as soon as I saw Beadwindow 7's reply that Lvl III is required, I jumped in my car and drove to the reserve unit... I submitted the long clearance form because I don't want to waste x months just waiting for someone ask for that.



Unless you have been accepted and enrolled, that was all for naught.  You require a DWAN Account to do your Clearance.  Lvl III will take approx 3 yrs for a Reservist to get, unless they are deploying.


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## Sig_Des (10 Apr 2008)

George Wallace said:
			
		

> Unless you have been accepted and enrolled, that was all for naught.  You require a DWAN Account to do your Clearance.  Lvl III will take approx 3 yrs for a Reservist to get, unless they are deploying.



I was wondering about that. I keep hearing about people in the recruiting process having to fill out the TBS/SCT 330's and such, but they'll just have to redo it through the SCPS, with their USS confirming that they require said clearance level. It's just redundant for these forms to be asked for at the CFRC. They should only be worried about the ERC.

As an aside to fcz, *KEEP* a copy of the forms you filled out once you have it complete, and don't lose them. If you get your clearance, you will have to periodically update it, and it helps to have all of that information handy when that time comes.


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## fcz (10 Apr 2008)

> Lvl III will take approx 3 yrs for a Reservist to get, unless they are deploying.



Just now my recruiter told me that without clearance I couldn't even start BMQ. Since Lvl III is required for Sig Op, and almost everyone in that Comm Res unit are Sig Op, does that mean everyone waited 3 years just to get BMQ, how can that be possible? I am confused.


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## boehm (10 Apr 2008)

You don't need your Lvl III to do BMQ. You also don't need it to complete QL3 trades training.


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## Sig_Des (10 Apr 2008)

fcz said:
			
		

> Just now my recruiter told me that without clearance I couldn't even start BMQ. Since Lvl III is required for Sig Op, and almost everyone in that Comm Res unit are Sig Op, does that mean everyone waited 3 years just to get BMQ, how can that be possible? I am confused.



Are you talking the unit's recruiter, or the CFRC recruiter? There must be a miscommunication somewhere.

Generally, what happens with the Comm Res, you get your Enhanced Reliability Check done by the CFRC's application process.

After that, you do your BMQ/SQ. After that, you begin your Security Clearance. This is usually not completed by the time your QL3 trades course comes around, so the unit will sign a waiver.

Now that the Res Sig Op QL3 is spread over 2 summers, ideally, you should have your Lvl 3 clearance by the time you go on your QL5


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## fcz (10 Apr 2008)

It was the unit recruiter, but he himself is not a Comm Res, he is from infrantry... anyway I just want to start BMQ this year... thanks for all the replies


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## George Wallace (10 Apr 2008)

You are not likely to even start a Lvl III until after you pass through the Recruiting process, pass your BMQ and SQ.  It is a major waste of limited resources to start a Lvl III Clearance on a person who may fail out in any of those three.  If a Clearance was started on a person enrolling and they failed their medical, or CFAT, or PT Test, then resources were wasted when they could have been put to clearing a soldier who had already passed through the system, passed BMQ and SQ, and was now starting a Trade.


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## NCRCrow (10 Apr 2008)

agree with GW (man..that burns)

NESOP's are supposed to be Level 3 by the time they finish QL-3

now we all know how that goes!


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## garb811 (11 Apr 2008)

George Wallace said:
			
		

> As more and more Trades Req a minimum of Level II, that does become a concern, especially if those relatives may be untraceable, or are living in a 'Scheduled' country.


I've done the Fields in the past and work with the Clearance process on a daily basis today, for *most* people, relatives are not a concern.  The clearance process is done for the individual and it is only in rare and special cases that relatives are brought into the equation. 



			
				George Wallace said:
			
		

> Do not use a University Dorm as an address; use your parents home address - or the address where your Taxes are mailed to.  In other words, don't use Temporary addresses; use permanent addresses.


Put all your residences in Canada down, even University dorms.  Whenever I came across instances where someone had omitted an address "because it was temporary" when it obviously wasn't, the question became, "Why?".  At that point what would have been a quick file to finish became long and drawn out as I tracked down the addresses and looked for people to talk to.  Most times all I ended up doing was wasting my time but it had to be done and on a few occasions it was a good thing that those addresses had been followed up.  If you go on holiday for 3 weeks, fine not a problem, but if you're at University in a dorm for 8 months, put it down.  That is not a temporary address, that is your residence because that is where you are spending the majority of your time when you're not at the campus pub library studying.


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## 211RadOp (21 Apr 2008)

Beadwindow 7 said:
			
		

> Lvl III is the required clearance for Sig Op.



Most Ops are coming out of CFSCE right now have either ERC or Lvl II. The units are upgrading to Lvl III when they arrive. The prob with Apprentice Sig Ops coming in, they are unemployable, pretty much, at the Regt until they get atleast a Lvl II clearance.


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## Sig_Des (21 Apr 2008)

211RadOp said:
			
		

> Most Ops are coming out of CFSCE right now have either ERC or Lvl II. The units are upgrading to Lvl III when they arrive. The prob with Apprentice Sig Ops coming in, they are unemployable, pretty much, at the Regt until they get atleast a Lvl II clearance.



That bites the proverbial radiating element, and I feel your pain, 211. We're getting kids with only ERC, not SQ, no driver quals. And a bunch are getting here right in time for work up IBTS.

Fun times.


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## jzaidi1 (25 Apr 2008)

Hi All,

When I was a reservist RadOp (now called SigOp) my clearance level went from enhanced during basic training to Level II inside of one year and by the second year attained Level III.  My application took longer because my father and mother were both born overseas (I was born in Canada though).  My references were visited by some folks in the military (MPs?).  One of my references told me that two people came to visit him and identified themsleves as RCMP.  Mind you this was years ago.  This was in-between my Level II and Level III clearance.

In short, to continue training you have to eventually hit Level III.

CPL Jay


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## PuckChaser (25 Apr 2008)

Beadwindow 7 said:
			
		

> That bites the proverbial radiating element, and I feel your pain, 211. We're getting kids with only ERC, not SQ, no driver quals. And a bunch are getting here right in time for work up IBTS.
> 
> Fun times.



Thought all SigOps required SQ to be completed before they were QL3 loaded? Or am I thinking little r only??


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## Sig_Des (25 Apr 2008)

PuckChaser said:
			
		

> Thought all SigOps required SQ to be completed before they were QL3 loaded? Or am I thinking little r only??



Alas, I thought the same. When I was little r, it was that way.

But working in Ops here, I've cleared in several new Ptes off their 3's in the last few months that have no SQ, or no Driver's quals.


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## 211RadOp (25 Apr 2008)

PuckChaser said:
			
		

> Thought all SigOps required SQ to be completed before they were QL3 loaded? Or am I thinking little r only??



Before I left for Wx, I had two from my Tp on the SQ.  One of the other Tps in my Sqn had 6 pers posted in from CFSCE who did not have it either, and so far, only one has gotten on the crse.


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## PuckChaser (26 Apr 2008)

I have no idea how students can pass a SigOp QL3 without any field skills (save BMQ) at all, unless they drastically lowered the standard. That totally sounds like Old-school talk, and I only joined in 2002. I'm not that old.  :-\


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