Message posted by Casper (Member since 01/24/2011) on March 19, 2023 at 17:51:55 PST:
While I've never held a clearance myself, I have worked in both DoD and DoE facilities where many had clearances. When I worked for BAE Systems (defense contactor, our location was building MRAP trucks and competing for the JLTV project to replace the Humvee), the bottom strip of the badge was a different color based on your clearance level. Badges had to be worn above the waist at all times. In addition to the stripe of color, they had colored dots on one corner that showed which projects they had access to. Seeing that the B in BAE was for British, there was also a way to designate foreign nationals -- I believe it was a different colored lanyard on the badge, although I'm a bit fuzzy on that detail, it's been 20 years. As a college intern, I found it funny that I (with zero clearance) had access to parts of the facility that the CEO of the company couldn't access because I was a US national and he was a Brit. I mention that only because I think it's likely that there are allied nations operating at Groom on occasion and they probably have a similar system. I also worked in a high-security office in Las Vegas that was in the financial space. Our security guys were all former military, at least one of whom had worked up range. That place knew where every employee was at every second. We even had to badge into the hallway to go to the restroom or breakroom. I would expect Groom to be very similar.
At the National Nuclear Labs, badges were also different based on clearance levels. You got your badge checked by a guard upon entry and even after that, almost every door in the building required a badge swipe for access. Some doors I did not have access to, but could be escorted through (sensitive but not classified). The classified areas would be marked as such and secured. And some doors would have a guard checking IDs before you could badge into them (the guard would be armed if the material behind the door was fissionable). Are there Cammo Dudes or Security Forces at the entrances to some of the hangars? I wouldn't be surprised.
In Reply to: Re: Question about Groom lake employees posted by Peter on March 19, 2023 at 14:07:32 PST:
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