The impact of selected modifications to the Defense Investigative Service credit report acquisition process

Abstract

This thesis examines whether it is necessary to manually enter credit history inquiry information instead of using similar information in D1S data bases when processing credit report requests pertaining to DoD security clearance applicants. Although the precise applicant addresses are not currently contained in these data bases, the identities of the DIS field offices requested to gather information at those locations is available. The research used actual security clearance applicant information which was submitted to a national credit vendor in two formats. The first format used the applicant's full address information while the second substituted the full address with a general delivery address and the regional DIS office Zir code that would provide investigative coverage for the applicant's address. The results of the study showed that the credit reports obtained from TRW with the general delivery address and the regional DIS office ZIP code were of the same quality as those obtained in the current procedure. Therefore, it appears that manually entering the inquiry information may not serve a useful purpose.