KEYWORD: Guideline F
DIGEST: The Judge’s whole person analysis concludes that Applicant is making reasonable
efforts to pay her debts off and live within her means.  There is a rational connection between the
facts found and the favorable decision.  Favorable decision affirmed.
CASENO: 06-12930.a1
DATE: 03/17/2008
DATE: March 17, 2008
In Re:
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Applicant for Security Clearance
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ISCR Case No. 06-12930
APPEAL BOARD DECISION
APPEARANCES
FOR GOVERNMENT
Ray T. Blank, Jr., Esq., Department Counsel
FOR APPLICANT
Pro Se
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The Defense Office of Hearings and Appeals (DOHA) declined to grant Applicant a security
clearance.  On November 29, 2006, DOHA issued a statement of reasons (SOR) advising Applicant
of the basis for that decision–security concerns raised under Guideline F (Financial Considerations)
of Department of Defense Directive 5220.6 (Jan. 2, 1992, as amended) (Directive).  Applicant
requested a hearing.  On August 6, 2007, after the hearing, Administrative Judge Mary E. Henry
granted Applicant’s request for a security clearance.  Department Counsel filed a timely appeal
pursuant to Directive ¶¶  E3.1.28 and E3.1.30.
Department Counsel raises the following issues on appeal: whether the Judge erred in
concluding that the Government had failed to meet its burden of production regarding certain of
Applicant’s debts; whether the Judge’s application of Financial Considerations Mitigating
Conditions was arbitrary, capricious, and contrary to law; and whether the Judge’s whole-person
analysis was arbitrary, capricious, and contrary to law.  Finding no harmful error, we affirm the
Judge’s decision.
The Judge found that Applicant, an employee of a defense contractor, has numerous
unsatisfied debts.  Much of this debt originated during periods of unemployment in the 1990s.
Applicant has not incurred substantial debt or unpaid loans in the past seven years.  In addition, she
no longer uses credit cards, paying cash instead.  She has retained the services of a financial
counseling agency to assist her in resolving her debt problems.  
The Board has examined the Judge’s decision in light of the record as a whole.  Department
Counsel argues that the Judge’s application of Guideline F mitigating conditions was error, given
the ongoing nature of the debts and Department Counsel’s view that Applicant has not approached
debt resolution in a reasonable manner.  The Board notes that an applicant is not required to show
that she has completely paid off her indebtedness, only that she has established a reasonable plan to
resolve her debts and has “taken significant actions to implement that plan.”  ISCR Case No. 04-
09684 at 2-3 (App. Bd. Jul. 6, 2006).  In this case, the Judge gave Applicant partial credit under the
mitigating conditions as to the evidence she provided.  It is the Judge’s whole-person analysis, which
concludes that Applicant is making reasonable efforts to pay her debts off and to live within her
means, that constitutes “a rational connection between the facts found” and her favorable decision.
Motor Vehicle Mfrs. Ass’n of the United States v. State Farm Mut. Auto. Ins. Co., 463 U.S. 29, 43
(1983).  Therefore, even if individual mitigating conditions do not per se justify the grant of a
security clearance to Applicant, the Board concludes that, on the facts of this case, the Judge’s
favorable security clearance decision is sustainable based on her whole-person analysis.  The Board
need not agree with a judge’s decision in order to find it sustainable.  ISCR Case No. 06-23881 at
2 (App. Bd. Nov. 2, 2007).  Any error in the Judge’s conclusion regarding the Government’s burden
of production is harmless.   See ISCR Case No. 02-29143 at 3 (App. Bd. Jan. 12, 2005).
Accordingly, the Judge’s favorable decision is neither arbitrary, capricious, nor contrary to law.
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Order
The Judge’s favorable security clearance decision is AFFIRMED.
  
Signed: Jean E. Smallin  
Jean E. Smallin
Administrative Judge
Member, Appeal Board
Signed: William S. Fields    
William S. Fields
Administrative Judge
Member, Appeal Board
Signed: James E. Moody      
James E. Moody
Administrative Judge
Member, Appeal Board