The Joint Personnel Adjudication System (JPAS) was retired by the Defense Counterintelligence and Security Agency on March 31, 2021, and replaced by the Defense Information System for Security (DISS), which is now the DoD security clearance system of record.1Defense Counterintelligence and Security Agency. Defense Information System for Security (DISS) If you held a clearance under JPAS, your record migrated into DISS automatically. Every new eligibility determination, access grant, investigation status update, and incident report now runs through DISS instead.
How DISS Differs From JPAS
JPAS was a standalone database. DISS is an enterprise platform built to connect with newer vetting infrastructure and eventually feed into the National Background Investigation Services (NBIS) system.2House Oversight Committee. Statement by Deputy Under Secretary Overbaugh Before the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform Functionally, DISS does what JPAS did — verify clearance eligibility, document access to facilities, and record adjudicative decisions — but through two dedicated sub-applications rather than a single interface.
The Joint Verification System (JVS) is the module security officers use day to day. It’s where a Facility Security Officer confirms someone’s eligibility, indoctrinates them into a Security Management Office (SMO), and processes visit requests. The Case Adjudication Tracking System (CATS) is the adjudicator’s workspace, where formal Secret, Top Secret, and other eligibility determinations are recorded.1Defense Counterintelligence and Security Agency. Defense Information System for Security (DISS)
One related change often catches applicants off guard. The e-QIP portal that used to host the SF-86 has been replaced by eApp through NBIS Agency.3Defense Counterintelligence and Security Agency. Electronic Questionnaires for Investigations Processing (e-QIP) If your security office tells you to fill out an SF-86, you’ll be directed to eApp, not the legacy system.
What Your DISS Record Contains
Your file in DISS is organized around three separate components. Each one means something different, and understanding the distinction matters when you’re trying to interpret what your FSO tells you.
Eligibility
Eligibility is the formal clearance determination made by the Consolidated Adjudication Facility (CAF). When your background investigation closes and an adjudicator concludes you meet the standards, DISS records the level: Confidential, Secret, or Top Secret. Adjudicators evaluate you against the 13 adjudicative guidelines set out in Security Executive Agent Directive 4, covering areas from financial responsibility and criminal history to foreign contacts and drug use.4Office of the Director of National Intelligence. SEAD-4 Adjudicative Guidelines
Investigation Status
Investigation status shows when your background investigation was opened, which tier is being conducted, and whether it has closed. Confidential and Secret clearances rely on a Tier 3 (T3) investigation; Top Secret and access to Sensitive Compartmented Information require a Tier 5 (T5). This is also the field where DISS records your enrollment in continuous vetting, which has replaced periodic reinvestigations for most cleared personnel.
Access
Access is separate from eligibility, and this is where confusion often sets in. Holding Top Secret eligibility does not mean you can enter any classified space. A security manager at a specific organization has to formally grant you access, linking your record to that organization’s SMO in DISS. The step is sometimes called indoctrination. Your access level cannot exceed your eligibility, but it can sit below it — someone with a Top Secret eligibility working a Secret-only role will show Secret access.
How To Check Your Clearance Status
You cannot log into DISS yourself. Accounts are restricted to security professionals with authorized access and a need to know. To find out your current eligibility level, the date of your last investigation, or whether you’re enrolled in continuous vetting, ask your Facility Security Officer or organizational security manager. They can pull the record in JVS and read the details back to you.
If you need the actual investigative file — the background investigation report itself, not just the DISS summary — you have the right under the Privacy Act of 1974 to request the records the government holds on you. File a Privacy Act request with DCSA’s FOIA and Privacy Office through the FOIA.gov portal or by mailing a written request to the DCSA FOIA Office in Boyers, Pennsylvania.5Defense Counterintelligence and Security Agency. FOIA Requests
Fixing Errors in Your Record
If your record contains inaccurate information, the Privacy Act also lets you request an amendment. DCSA requires you to identify the specific record, explain why it’s wrong, and attach supporting documentation. Your request must include your full name, date of birth, place of birth, Social Security number, and a clear statement of the correction sought.6Defense Counterintelligence and Security Agency. Amendment Requests
Handwritten amendment requests need either a notarized statement or an unsworn declaration under penalty of perjury. For background investigation records use the INV100 form; for adjudication or vetting records use the DCSA 335 form.6Defense Counterintelligence and Security Agency. Amendment Requests One important limit: the amendment process cannot be used to challenge the clearance determination itself. If your clearance was denied or revoked, that’s a separate appeals track through the Defense Office of Hearings and Appeals under 32 CFR Part 155.7eCFR. 32 CFR Part 155 – Defense Industrial Personnel Security Clearance Program
Continuous Vetting Under DISS
The biggest operational change from the JPAS era isn’t the interface. It’s what happens between investigations. The old model required a full reinvestigation every five years for Top Secret holders and every ten years for Secret, with almost no visibility in between. Under Trusted Workforce 2.0, launched in 2018, that model has been replaced with continuous vetting (CV): automated checks against criminal, terrorism, financial, and public records databases running throughout your entire period of eligibility.8Defense Counterintelligence and Security Agency. Continuous Vetting
The national security workforce has been fully enrolled in CV, with the non-sensitive public trust population following behind.9Performance.gov. Trusted Workforce 2.0 Transition Report A DUI arrest, a new foreign contact, or a significant financial delinquency can trigger a review at any point, not just at reinvestigation time. If you’re cleared, the practical takeaway is that problems don’t sit quietly until your next scheduled review. Self-reporting under Security Executive Agent Directive 3 before the system catches something is generally viewed far more favorably than the reverse.10Office of the Director of National Intelligence. Security Executive Agent Directive 3 – Reporting Requirements for Personnel with Access to Classified Information or Who Hold a Sensitive Position
Interim Clearances and Reciprocity
If a full investigation would hold up your start date, DCSA’s Adjudication and Vetting Services automatically considers every contractor applicant for an interim eligibility when an investigation is initiated. Interim Secret and Interim Top Secret can be granted, but only when your SF-86 responses, fingerprint results, proof of U.S. citizenship, and applicable local records all check out favorably.11Defense Counterintelligence and Security Agency. Interim Clearances An interim stays valid until the full investigation closes. If final adjudication comes back unfavorable, access is removed immediately.
If you already hold an active clearance and move to a different agency, Security Executive Agent Directive 7 requires the gaining agency to accept your existing background investigation and adjudication at the same or higher level, without requesting updated security information. Reciprocity has real limits though. An agency can require a new investigation when new derogatory information has surfaced, your last investigation is more than seven years old, your clearance was granted with an adjudicative exception noted in DISS, a Bond Amendment disqualifier applies and you need access to SCI or special access programs, your eligibility was interim or limited, or your clearance is currently denied, revoked, or suspended.12Office of the Director of National Intelligence. Security Executive Agent Directive 7 – Reciprocity of Background Investigations and National Security Adjudications If a gaining agency pushes back, ask which specific exception they’re invoking. A general preference for their own investigation isn’t one of them.
What Comes After DISS
DISS is not the final destination. The federal government is building the National Background Investigation Services (NBIS) platform as an end-to-end system for all personnel vetting, from initial application through investigation, adjudication, and continuous vetting. DCSA projects the full NBIS transition will complete by the end of fiscal year 2028, at which point legacy systems and standard forms are scheduled to sunset.2House Oversight Committee. Statement by Deputy Under Secretary Overbaugh Before the Committee on Oversight and Government Reform
Parts of NBIS are already live. The eApp questionnaire system has replaced e-QIP, and NBIS Agency modules are handling some initiation workflows.3Defense Counterintelligence and Security Agency. Electronic Questionnaires for Investigations Processing (e-QIP) When DISS eventually gives way to NBIS, the underlying records and eligibility determinations should carry over the same way they did when JPAS gave way to DISS. For now, DISS is the system your clearance lives in, and it’s the system your FSO uses to answer any question you have about your status.