FULL FIELD INVESTIGATIONS ON COMPETETIVE SERVICE EMPLOYEES AND APPLICANTS FOR CRITICAL-SENSITIVE POSITIONS

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP83B00823R000100150001-0
• Release Decision: RIPPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 17
• Document Creation Date: December 9, 2016
• Document Release Date: August 24, 2000
• Sequence Number: 1
• Publication Date: October 25, 1968
• Content Type: REGULATION

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EPD (FYI)
DDS 69-5035 (ER 69-5750/1) dated 11/18/69 to DCI from D/Security
Subject: Directive Governing Use and Procedures of Polygraph in
CIA w/a ER 69-5750 to D/Security from DCI, Subject: Polygraph
Program (unsigned and undated) -- returned from Executive
Director-Comptroller for rewrite 12/30/69. Is currently being handled
by DD/PS who will be in touch with ES. DD/PS has a copy of the
memo dated 11/18/69 which was rewritten in O/DDS and is referenced
above.
Jaye
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 OFFICIAL ROUTING SLIP
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For your information.
RECOMMENDATION
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For your information.
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FROM: NAME. ADDRESS AND PHONE NO.
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FORM NO. x]937 Use previous editions GPO: 1968 0 - 297-542 (40)
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PUBLISHED IN ADVANCE OF INCORPORATION
IN FPM CHAPTER 736
RETAIN UNTIL SUPERSEDED.
UNITED STATES CIVIL SERVICE COMMISSION
FEDERAL PERSONNEL MANUAL: SYSTEM
.LETTER
FPM LETTER NO. 736-4
Washington, D.C. 20415
October 25,.1968
SUBJECT: Full Field Investigations on Competitive Service
Employees and Applicants for.Critical-Sensitive Positions
Heads of Departments and Independent Eatablishment8:
This letter announces minimum standards relating to full field
investigations for appointment to critical-sensitive positions in
the competitive service. Included are standards on scope and
coverage of full field investigations; the selection,. training and
supervision of investigators; and safeguards to avoid unwarranted
invasion of privacy. These standards are the result of a careful
study by an interagency committee representing the major agencies
which conduct full field investigations. They are issued in accord-
ance with the delegation of authority to the Commission contained in
section 8(b) of Executive Order 10450 dated April 27, 1953., They
derogatory matters developed, requiring investigation before the,
five-year period.
a thorough personal investigation shall be made of any materially
ever is the shorter period. Particularly intensive investigative
with emphasis on the person's background and activities during the
most recent fifteen years, or since his eighteenth birthday, which
investigations by agreement with the Commission.
Scope and Coverage of Full Field Investigations
for Critical-Sensitive Positions
Full field investigations on competitive service employees and
applicants for critical-sensitive positions shall be personally
conducted investigations which cover the life of the individual
.particular application to those agencies which conduct full field
are binding on all agencies which make competitive appointments, with
INQUIRIES: Bureau of Personnel Investigations, 343-7205 (183-7205)
CSC CODE 736, investigations
The basic elements of investigation are:
A National Agency Check as follows:
FBI name check
FBI fingerprint check
CSC Security File check
CSC Security Investigations Index check
bItTRIBUTION: FPM
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FPM LTR. 736-4 (2)
Defense Central Index of Investigations check (covering
military service or defense employment)
House Committee on Un-American Activities check as appropriate
Immigration and Naturalization files (on naturalized citizens)'
State Department Passport files (covering foreign travel)
personal interviews with present and former employers; super-
visors; fellow workers; references, when available; neighbors;
school authorities; and other knowledgeable associates.
checks of police, credit (when practical and justified), and
other pertinent records as appropriate, such as FBI field
offices, vital statistics (to resolve discrepancies), military
service, and the like.
Personal interviews as appropriate, for the proximate five-year
period, should be scheduled with employers, supervisors, and work
associates to verify and obtain pertinent details for all employ-
ments in that. investigative, period. Particular care shall be taken,
also to verify the'fact of unemployment or self-employment claimed by
the subject of investigation during the proximate five-year period.
Significant education at a college level should be verified by a
check of the school records.. Secondary education should be investi-
gated when the subject is young and has had no subsequent schooling.
Personal interviews should be conducted with available witnesses such
as school authorities, professors and former students who were asso-
ciated with the subject during recent schooling.
Neighborhood investigation should'normally be conducted on civilian
employees and applicants to cover residence during the most recent
three years. Testimony of neighbors before that period may be sought
to, verify periods of unemployment or self-employment, or.to resolve
questionable matters which have been raised from other sources.
The number of witnesses interviewed cannot be reduced to a formula
but in each case should depend upon the diversity of the subject's
experience and places of residence, as well as upon the depth of
knowledge shown by witnesses concerning the subject's character,
habits, and background. The objective of the investigation should
be to obtain a comprehensive and well-rounded picture of the
individual's background and activities.
Matters Covered in Full Field Investigations'
Basically, full field investigations are designed to develop suffi-
cient information to enable agency officials to determine
the employability or fitness of persons entering critical-sensitive
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FPM LTR. 736-4 (3)
positions. Fitness includes both security and suitability fitness.
Investigations, whenever practicable, should be conducted on a pre-
employment basis and reports used as a personnel selection device.
Character, habits, morals, associations, and reputation shall be
investigated generally. Loyalty should be particularly stressed and
if a question is raised concerning the subject's loyalty the case
shall be referred to the Federal Bureau of Investigation in accord-
ance with Section 8(d) of Executive Order 10450?
The affirmative qualities and qualifications of the subject should be
fully developed.
Over and above the minimum standards, the -full field investigation may
be tailored to obtain information in depth concerning special attributes
and qualifications required for proper performance in the particular
kind of position involved...
GUIDES FOR SELECTION TRAINING AND SUPERVISION
OF FEDERAL PERSONNEL INVESTIGATORS
The following guides for the selection, training and supervision of.
Federal personnel investigators conducting fall field investigations
for the competitive service have been adopted by the Commission:
1. *Selection should be based upon
o Any of the following as indication of above-average
mental capacity and verbal ability:
(a) a college degree and written test;
(b) a college degree and oral examination;
(c). education and experience equivalent to four
years of college and written test; or
(d) ,college level written test.
o Demonstrated ability to meet and deal with people of all
social and economic levels, evidenced by an appropriate
employment interview or through affirmative findings in
a personal investigation.
o Preappointment completion of a comprehensive full field
investigation with favorable results concerning loyalty
and suitability, showing also that the applicant possesses
high moral standards, and the requisite personal attributes
s Does not modify or amend the standards for investigators in
the competitive service which appear in CSC Handbook X-118.
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f +o,
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FPM LTR. 736-4 (4)
including integrity, tact, initiative, adaptability,
resourcefulness, soundness of judgment, and ability to meet
and deal with people.
o Potential for growth as an investigator and consideration
of capacity for future development along other technical
or managerial lines as dictated by agency needs.
2. Training and supervision of personnel investigators should
meet these minimum requirements:
o initial training to provide a thorough grounding in.the
fundamentals of personnel investigations and.agency missions.
o Provision for periodic refresher training to update skills
and assure continuing investigative competence.
o. Supervision that is sufficiently close, and review that is
sufficiently frequent and thorough, to assure good quality
of investigating and reporting on a timely basis at reason-
able cost.
Manuals and Instructional Material Subject to Review
by the Commission
To insure uniformity of investigative methods and procedures the
Commission shall, as appropriate, review manuals and instructions
to i vestigators.which relate to conducting full field or background
investigations on competitive service applicants and employees with
respect to those departments and agencies which have negotiated
agreements with the Commission under the provisions of section 8(b)
Avoiding Unwarranted Invasion of Privacy
In conducting full-field (background) investigations for accept-
ability for employment in critical-sensitive competitive service
positions under E.O. 10450, inquiries concerning an applicant will
be limited to matters relevant to a determination of fitness for
the position, including a determination as to whether his employment
is clearly consistent with the national security. Investigators are.
not authorized to:
(1) Inquire about race, religion, national origin, union
membership, fraternal affiliations, political affilia-
tions, or the constitutionality or wisdom of legislative
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FPM LTR. 736- 4.(5)
policies except when such information constitutes a
bona fide qualification or fitness requirement for specific
employment, is required to establish identity, or directly
relates to security fitness or subversive activities.
(2) Investigate any case or person other than.those officially.
assigned within their lawful duties.
(3) Interview witnesses without first showing credentials
giving proper identification and informing the witness
why the investigation is being conducted.
(4) Furnish information or ask questions in such manner as to
indicate the investigator is in possession of derogatory
information concerning the subject of investigation.
(5) Make covert or surreptitious investigations, or use such
devices or techniques as mail covers, inspection of trash,
or paid informants, except as any of the foregoing may
specifically and individually first be authorized by the
head of the agency or his designee.
(6) Use telephone or wire taps or covert listening or
recording devices.
(7)
(8)
(9)
Use the polygraph or other so-called lie detectors
except as authorized in Attachment 1.
Interview applicants or appointees to the competitive
service concerning their sexual behavior or attitudes
concerning sexual conduct in the absence of allegations
or information indicating sexual misbehavior.
Express opinions about the person under investigation.
(10) Investigate any case in which the investigator knows of
circumstances which might adversely affect his fairness,
impartiality, or objectivity, without first making this
fact known to his superiors.
(11) Divulge any investigative information outside official
channels.
(22) Make unauthorized intrusions on private property.
Nicholas J. Oganovic
Executive Director .
Attachment 1
Rules concerning use of the polygraph
for competitive service positions
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Attachment to FPM Letter No., 736-4 =
USE OF THE POLYGRAPH IN PERSONNEL INVESTIGATIONS
OF.COMPETITIVE SERVICE APPLICANTS AND APPOINTEES-
TO COMPETITIVE SERVICE POSITIONS
An executive department or agency which has a highly sensitive
intelligence or counter-intelligence mission directly affecting the
national security (e.g. a mission approaching the sensitivity of
that of the Central Intelligence Agency) may use the polygraph for
employment screening and personnel investigations of applicants for
and appointees to competitive service positions only after complying
with the following procedures:
The executive agency must submit to the Chairman of the Civil Service
Commission a statement setting forth the nature of its mission. The
Chairman shall then determine whether the agency has an intelligence
or counter-intelligence mission directly affecting the national secu-
rity. If he so finds, the following shall apply:
The agency shall prepare regulations and directives governing use of
the polygraph in employment screening and personnel investigations
which must be reviewed by the Chairman of the Civil Service Commission.
These shall contain as a minimum:
a. Specific purposes for which the polygraph may be used,
and details concerning the types of positions or organi-
zational entities in which it will be used, and the
officials authorized to approve such examinations.
b. A directive that a person to be examined must be informed
.as far in advance as possible of the intent to use the
polygraph and of --
(i). Other devices or aids to the interrogation
which may be used simultaneously with the
polygraph, such as voice recordings, etc.
(ii) His privilege against self-incrimination
and his right to consult with legal counsel
or to secure other professional assistance.
prior to the examination.
(iii) The effect of the polygraph examination or
his refusal to take such examination on his.
eligibility for employment. He shall be
informed that refusal to consent to a poly-
graph examination will not be made a part
of his personnel file.
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Attachment to FPM Letter No. 736- 4
(iv) The characteristics and nature of the polygraph
machine and examination, including an explana-
tion of the physical operation of the machine,,
the procedures to be followed during the exami-
nation, and the disposition of information
developed.
(v) The general areas of all questions to be asked
during an examination.
c. A directive that no polygraph examination will be given
unless the person to be examined has voluntarily con-
sented in writing to be examined after having been
informed of the above, (i) through (v).
d. A directive that questions to be asked during a polygraph
examination must have specific relevance to the subject
of the particular inquiry.
e. Adequate standards for the selection and training of
examiners, keeping in mind the Government's objective
of insuring protection for the subject of an examina-
tion and the accuracy of polygraph results.
f. A provision for adequate monitoring of polygraph
operations by a high-level official to prevent abuses
or unwarranted invasions of privacy.
g. A provision for. adequate safeguarding of files, charts,
and other relevant data developed through polygraph
examinations to avoid unwarranted invasions of privacy.
Approval to use the polygraph will be granted only for one-year
periods. A department or agency given approval to use the polygraph
for competitive service positions will be required to recertify
annually that the conditions which led to the original certification
' "
Stil
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 Approved For
FEDERAII, . ;IZ5gilf~l , I?IANUA1, S1'Sr1']~I4
Full Field Investigatiozis
on:Competitive Service
Employees and Applicants f
or Critical-Sensitive Poeit3,or-n
HEADS OF DEPARTMENTS AND INI)I?,PENlENT FSTA13LTc3M,
coverage of full field investip_a" aro 4-standards on scope and
the competitive sor,v.ice. Inclo d ci.~tical-senr,:ltive' po:~itions in,:
ud ?
- unces nn.nirmrjtr ,standards rcJ..,~:~~
investigations for appointrnent t . txnf; to full ;
This Lotter anno
----- +ba~J.Vi1$ ay agreement with t:hn rte. ~. "ucL jury , field
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~?. va.,tuing on all agencies Which makeVcompot;itivo~anr;n;,,i,n~,,1he ...: ~,
particular annl3[~A+-;.,,, 4.- ,_
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