The Civilian Personnel officer selects three members for a hearing board, composed of Department of the Army and Navy Department personnel and may include military commissioned officers, but a majority of the board must be civilians. The Civilian Personnel officer contacts the employee and his attorney, if the employee has one, and arranges a date convenient to them as well as the hearing board. The Secretariat examines the file to see what persons named in the file should be invited to attend the hearing as witnesses. Every effort is made to have at the hearing those individuals who have given information adverse to the employee. The employee is provided with as much of the derogatory.information contained in the file as the interests of national security will permit. The employee is given the opportunity to present any information that is relevant. Strict rules of evidence are not invoked at the hearing. However, reasonable bounds with respect to relevancy, materiality, and competency are maintained. Following the closing of the hearing, the hearing board meets in executive session and arrives at a recommendation which it makes to the Secretary of the Air Force. A copy of the transcript of the hearing is furnished to the employee. When the case file and transcript of hearing are received by the Secretariat, it arranges a meeting of the Security Review Board. This Board reviews all cases received from hearing boards whether the recommendations of the hearing boards be favorable or unfavorable. By reason of the fact that the Security Review Board is composed of high-level personnel of the Department of the Air Force, it is thought that a review of each case by this body helps assure consistency in the application of Air Force policies. When the Security Review Board has arrived at a recommendation, that recommendation, together with the Board's rationale, is forwarded by the Secretariat to the office of the Secretary of the Air Force for final decision. As indicated heretofore, all decisions in employee security cases are made in the office, Secretary of the Air Force. In a case in which hearing has been held, the decision is announced by the Deputy for Security Programs, and the announcement of the decision is forwarded to the Secretariat and at the same time the Secretariat is directed to make the proper notifications and make the appropriate actions for effecting the Secretary's directives. The Secretariat, by letter, informs the commander of the installation concerned of the action directed by the Secretary of the Air Force. At the same time, the employee is notified of the action by letter forwarded to the commander for delivery to him. An information copy of these letters is forwarded to the Office of Special Investigations and to the U. S. Civil Service Commission to enable those two agencies to make such record of the action as may be necessary in the performance of their functions. When the installation commander has accomplished the actions directed, such as removal of the employee or restoration of the employee, the Secretariat is notified of the effective date of such action. AIR FORCE REGULATION Civilian Personnel 1-3 DEPARTMENT OF THE AIR FORCE INVESTIGATIONS FOR EMPLOYMENT This regulation establishes criteria and responsibility for designating positions as sensitive and prescribes requirements for investigations for employment, or retention in employment, of civilian personnel in the Air Force. It also describes the procedures to be followed in requesting the required investigations. It implements DOD Directive 5210.7, "Department of Defense Civilian Applicant and Employee Security Program," 12 August 1953, as amended. (Copies of DOD Directives are not available from Headquarters USAF except as authorized in paragraph 10, AFR 5–5, 1 October 1958.) Inquiries concerning these provisions should be addressed to: HQ USAF (AFPCR-A-1), Wash 25, DC. SECTION A-GENERAL Whom This Regulation Applics To.. Paragraph U. S. Citizens Applying in the 48 Adjoining States or the District of Columbia for Overseas 12 U. S. Citizens Hired Locally at Oversea Installations. 13 14 Cancellation of Investigation... 15 1 2346 SECTION E-RECORDS Investigative Files Received from the Civil Service Commission. Maintenance of Investigative Files of Employees.. Disposition of Investigative Reports on Applicants Who Were Not Appointed. SECTION A-GENERAL 1. Whom This Regulation Applies To. This regulation applies to all Air Force civilian employees, including employees located at oversca installations. Employees of nonappropriated fund activities, as described in AFR 176-1, arc not employees of the Air Force with regard to any law administered by the Civil Service Commission (Act of 19 June 1952; 66 Stat 138; 5 USC 150K) and are not within the scope of this regulation. 16 17 18 19 20 2. Authorities for This Regulation: a. Executive Order 10450, 27 April 1953 as amended (18 F. R. 2489) (also reprinted in FPM, Chapter Z1, and in AFR 205-2). b. Department of Defense Directive 5210.7, dated 12 August 1953, as amended. 3. Definitions Used in This Regulation. The following definitions apply in this regulation: a. United States. This term means the States, the District of Columbia, Puerto Rico, • This regulation supersedes paragraphs 9, 10, 11, and 12, AFR 40-12, 16 October 1953. OPI: AFPCP DISTRIBUTION: S See 40-23A, 5 Apr 62 95-901 O-63 (App. vol. 1)–25 375 AFR 40-23 3-5 the Virgin Islands, and Johnston Island. (It also includes the Panama Canal Zone and Guam when used with respect to United States citizens.) b. National Security. The term "national security" means those activities of the Government that are directly concerned with the protection of the Nation from internal subversion or foreign aggression, but not those which contribute to the strength of the Nation only through their impact on the general welfare. c. Critical-Sensitive Position. This term is used to describe a position falling within the meaning of either paragraph 4b(1) or 4b (2) below. d. Noncritical-Sensitive Position. This term is used to describe a position falling within the meaning of paragraph 4b (3) below. e. Overseas. This term means all areas outside the 48 adjoining States and the District of Columbia. (d) at grade GS-14 and above, or salary equivalent, not otherwise covered in (1) above. (When appointment to a position compensated at a salary equivalent to grade GS-14 or above is limited to 90 days or less, the position will not be considered as sensitive unless covered under other provisions of this paragraph.) (3) Any position, the duties of which require— (a) access to CONFIDENTIAL or SE- (b) performance of functions in connec- (d) that an individual work within the (e) that an individual have frequent access to restricted areas as defined in AFR 205-5, (f) that an individual work in or on other sensitive locations such as fuel storage areas, fuel hydrant areas, navigational aids sites, fire departments, crash rescue departments, water works, heavy equipment pools, power stations, electric transformer sites, weather stations, telephone exchanges, antenna sites, and storage areas where important materiel is either processed or stored and the duties would afford an individual an opportunity to commit acts of espionage or sabotage. 5. Designation of Positions as Sensitive: a. The commander of each unit, down to and including a group or comparable unit, is responsible for designating as sensitive each civilian position within his organization which falls within paragraph 4. The commander may delegate his authority to designate positions as sensitive. However, the Civilian Personnel Officer will not be delegated the authority for designating positions as sensitive, except for those positions under his functional jurisdiction. See 40-23A, 5 Apr 62 d. A sensitive position will be redesignated as nonsensitive only when it is found that the duties and responsibilitics of the position no longer fall within the provisions of paragraph 4. If a change in the sensitivity of a position occurs after an SF 52 or AF Form 681 has been submitted to the civilian personnel office, the operating office will inform the personnel office in writing of the change in designation. A position will not be temporarily redesignated nonsensitive in order to fill it prior to completion of the required investigation. SECTION C-INVESTIGATIVE REQUIREMENTS 6. Minimum Requirements. The appointment of each civilian officer or employee will be made subject to investigation as specified in paragraph 8. Certain of the required investigative actions must be completed prior to appointment while others will be completed after the employee enters on duty. This, however, does not modify the requirement for pre-employment inquiries conducted as a part of the selection process under the provisions of section 8, Chapter X-1, AFM 40-1. Investigative requirements for employees are set forth in paragraph 9. For the purpose of this section, military service is considered as Federal service. Therefore, the appointment of an individual to a civilian position after military service will be subject to the provisions of paragraph 8e. 7. Who Will Make Investigations. The Civil Service Commission conducts National Agency Checks for applicants for Air Force positions. Upon request, it also conducts Written Inquiries for applicants for certain positions as indicated by this regulation. These investigations by the Commission are restricted to the areas of the United States. The Office of Special Investigations, Air Force Inspector General, conducts Background Investigations and National Agency Checks for employees. The agency which is responsible for conducting investigations of non-U. S. citizens in an oversea area other than a State or possession of the U. S. depends upon local circumstances and agreements, if any, with the government involved. 8. Investigative Requirements for Appli cants: a. United States Citizens and Non-U. S. Citizens in the United States. A non-U. S. citizen will not be appointed to any sensitive position unless he has formally declared his intent to become a United States citizen. (See attachment 1 for a summary of the investigative requirements.) AFR 40-23 5-8 (1) Critical-Sensitive Positions: (a) A critical-sensitive position covered by the provisions of paragraph 4h (1) will not be filled prior to the completion with satisfactory results of a Background Investigation except in an emergency as indicated below. A Background Investigation, as defined in AFR 205-6, includes a National Agency Check. In case of emergency, as determined by the commander responsible for designating the position sensitive (or higher authority in the same chain of command), such position may be filled for a limited period by the applicant after completion of the pre-appointment National Agency Check but prior_to completion of the Background Investigation if the commander or other authority referred to above determines that such action is necessary in the interests of national defense. This determination will be in writing and will be made a part of the civilian personnel office records of the appointing installation as provided in Chapter 2, AFM 40-2. (b) A critical-sensitive position covered by the provisions of paragraph 4b (2) will not be be filled prior to the completion with satisfactory results of a National Agency Check, pending completion of the Background Investigation, except in an emergency. In case of emergency, as determined by the commander responsible for designating the position sensitive (or higher authority in the same chain of command), such position may be filled for a limited period prior to the completion of a National Agency Check if the commander or other authority referred to above determines that such action is necessary in the interests of national defense. This determination will be in writing and will be made a part of the civilian personnel office records of the appointing installation as provided in Chapter 2, AFM 40-2. (2) Noncritical-Sensitive Positions: (a) United States Citizens. A noncritical-sensitive position covered by the provisions of paragraph 4b (3) will not be filled by a United 3. |