Non-citizens in the military??

[garhkal]

Anyone know WHEN the us govt, started allowing non-citizens to serve, and WHY?? How can a non-citizen get a security clearance??

[Mjölnir]

Anyone know WHEN the us govt, started allowing non-citizens to serve, and WHY??

Since at least the Civil War; something like 20-25% of the Union Army was foreign born non-citizens. From around 1900-the 1970's the Navy had a program that allowed personnel from the Philippines to enlist and perform a variety of jobs.

How can a non-citizen get a security clearance??

In general they can't; if they have a particular set of skills etc. they can get a Limited Access Authorization which only can be used for regular SECRET and below. The military uses this for non-citizen enlistees who need access to CONFIDENTIAL & SECRET information but some operational information is still restricted.

[retiredAFcivvy]

Since at least the Civil War; something like 20-25% of the Union Army was foreign born non-citizens. From around 1900-the 1970's the Navy had a program that allowed personnel from the Philippines to enlist and perform a variety of jobs.



In general they can't; if they have a particular set of skills etc. they can get a Limited Access Authorization which only can be used for regular SECRET and below. The military uses this for non-citizen enlistees who need access to CONFIDENTIAL & SECRET information but some operational information is still restricted.

I don't remember what years they were, but the Air Force had enlisted non-citizens. I also wondered about the security clearance issue. Not sure if it applied to all but I remember one who became a citizen.