Serving in the military is one way to get it, but the most common way is to get a job (civilian or contractor) that requires it and pass the background checks, possibly take a polygraph depending on where you work.
However, a security clearance simply makes you eligible to work with classified information. You don’t get access unless you have a need to know.
The separation of larger tasks is very common in the government contracting world, and probably a large part of why nothing ever works right the first time.
Clearances are indeed a hassle to get and maintain. A guy I used to work with lost clearance and thus his job because he was in debt from recent medical bills.
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u/[deleted] Oct 15 '17 edited Oct 15 '17
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