Courtesy Photo | Lynn Craig - Defense Counterintelligence and Security Agency (DCSA) Privacy, Civil...... read more read more
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BOYERS, Pa. - A Civil Service Commission (CSC) experiment testing the ability of Iron Mountain-based employees to take on the workload of 10 National Agency Check with Inquiries (NACI) regional offices evolved over 46 years into a mailroom where millions of pieces of mail, including background investigation documents, are processed annually.
The experiment – a resounding success – began in 1977 when the CSC consolidated its regional NACI offices into one new center in Boyers, Pa. Initially, a massive volume of incoming and outgoing mail inundated the small Pennsylvania town’s rural U.S. post office but a new zip code resolved the issue.
“The experiment was successful and on top of inquiries, we were also receiving requests for background investigations,” said Lynn Craig, Defense Counterintelligence and Security Agency (DCSA) Privacy, Civil Liberties, and Freedom of Information (PCLF) Program specialist. “The U.S. Post Office quickly agreed to give us our own zip code so they would be less affected without hiring additional postal workers. Our mailroom also initiated a color envelope coding system to make it even easier for the postal service.”
Craig – who experienced the mailroom’s transformations since the experiment began – witnessed the NACI Center’s transition from the CSC to the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) in 1979 and to DCSA in 2019 as it continued covering all correspondence transiting through the facility.
After 19 years as a government employee, Craig and her colleagues became federal government contractors performing the same NACI duties when OPM – in an effort to reduce the size of the civil service – privatized its federal investigative service.
“We didn't have a choice but none of the federal employees lost their jobs,” recounted Craig, regarding the NACI transition to a United States Investigative Service (USIS) company in 1996. “One day we walked out of Iron Mountain as federal employees. The next day we walked in as contract employees doing the exact same work.”
Nine years later, Craig left her position at USIS to take time off and attend college.
“The USIS contract was eventually broken up and awarded to other companies. Over time, specific sections of USIS transitioned back to government positions,” said Craig who came back to the Freedom of Information position in 2010 as an OPM government employee.
“It’s amazing to look back at how we first started when many people didn't think we'd succeed and look at us now,” she reflected. “I'm very proud of all the innovations and proud of working here. I love it. The work is interesting. The people are top notch. We've got a really great environment to call our own here. We can do it and we've proved it throughout our transitions from government to the private sector and back to government while transferring among different agencies, and we're still here making a tremendous impact for national security.”
As Craig looks back, she recalls the amazing stories that involve her government and contractor colleagues working to accomplish their mission to process and manage government-wide investigative records collection, analysis and end-to-end case processing functions.
“I have all kinds of stories but the information – the things that we do – touches all of our country. We deal with subjects here,” said Craig, reminiscing about one particular subject. “He was a Marine and needed a copy of his Standard Form 86, Questionnaire for National Security Positions, for his next position designated as national security sensitive.”
Craig recalled it was about 2 p.m. when he called, and that she explained the first-in and first-out process to expedite forms and documents. The Marine would have to stand by while the forms submitted ahead of him were processed.
“He said, well ma'am, I'm supposed to have this at 8 o'clock this morning,” recalled Craig, who responded by asking the Marine if somebody promised it would be expedited to the head of the line. “His answer was no, but he received an e-mail stating that the White House required a copy of his standard form right away. I said, ‘Sir – can you hold on?’ He said, ‘yes.’ I got the information and made him stay on the line. I transmitted it. That was probably 10 years ago, and to this day, when I see a Marine open up the door of the White House - that's my Marine. That's how doing this type of work makes you feel. He’s going to be my Marine forever. I'm sure he's already gone but as far as I'm concerned, the Marine at the White House is my Marine.”
| Date Taken: | 03.20.2023 |
| Date Posted: | 03.20.2023 15:02 |
| Story ID: | 440773 |
| Location: | BOYERS , PENNSYLVANIA, US |
| Web Views: | 668 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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