The new process does not permit appeal hearings attended either online or in person, according to a Jan. 21 memo from Vincent Liddiard, director of security, special program oversight and information protection in the Secretary of the Air Force’s office, a memo shared with the Dayton Daily News.
Wright-Patterson Air Force Base is home to two important Air Force and Space Force intelligence-gathering agencies that generate and work with classified information — the National Air and Space Intelligence Center, also known as “NASIC,” and the National Space Intelligence Center, once known as “Space Delta 18.”
Dan Meyer, a partner in law firm Tully Rinckey’s Washington, D.C. office, told the Dayton Daily News that as a former Department of Defense inspector general’s office employee, he qualified for a small subset for SAP programs. SAPs are “subject-matter specific,” focusing on, for example, weapons systems or satellites or other sensitive issues.
The clearance gives employees access they need to do their jobs. They can lose such access for a multitude of reasons, including being charged with driving while under the influence of alcohol.
“If you do something that jeopardizes your SAP access, it can be revoked,” Meyer said.
If a federal employee loses such access, that employee can also lose his or her job.
The issue then becomes: How does that revocation get reviewed, and what is an employee’s role in that review if that employee wishes to regain SAP access, Meyer said.
The reason behind the policy change is unclear, as Meyer sees it. What a employee needs to know is why SAP access has been withdrawn. Sometimes that’s clear — but sometimes it’s not.
“Sometimes you’re guessing,” he said.
This change brings the Air Force closer to existing SAP policy for the Army and the Navy, Meyer said.
“That would be an indication that there’s been a culture change” in the Air Force, Meyer said.
An Air Force spokesperson told the Dayton Daily News the change is meant to make the appeals process more efficient.
“The changes are meant to create efficiencies and reduce costs by removing the in-person appeal option,” the spokesperson said. “The director or deputy director of security, special program oversight and information protection will continue to evaluate all relevant documents before making a final decision for access as part of the appeals process.”
Meyer believes the change falls in line with Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth’s priorities, and it dovetails with other recent cultural changes in the DOD, including a greater restricting of access.
“There’s been a general tightening down,” Meyer said.
Meyer said employees can appeal a denial decision and submit a Freedom of Information Act request for information on the rationale behind the revocation. He also advises employees to consider hiring an attorney, or secure an attorney on retainer, before the process starts.
“I have clients who have been working for the federal government for 25, 30 years, and they are completely horrified by what they don’t know about the Special Access process,” he said.
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