Editing Jonathan Pollard (section)

==Early career==
Pollard began applying for intelligence service jobs in 1979 after quitting graduate school, first at the [[Central Intelligence Agency]] (CIA) and then at the U.S. Navy. Pollard was refused for the CIA job after taking a [[polygraph test]] in which he admitted to prolific [[illegal drug]] usage between 1974 and 1978.<ref name="olive10">[[#refOlive2006|Olive 2006]], pp. 8–11.</ref>

He fared better with the Navy, and on September 19, 1979, he was hired by the [[Navy Field Operational Intelligence Office]] (NFOIO), an office of the Naval Intelligence Command (NIC). As an intelligence specialist, he was to work on [[Soviet Union|Soviet]] issues at the Navy Ocean Surveillance Information Center (NOSIC), a department of NFOIO. A [[background check]] was required to receive the necessary [[security clearance]]s, but no polygraph test. In addition to a [[Top Secret]] clearance, a more stringent [[United States security clearance#Top Secret|'Sensitive Compartmented Information']] (SCI) clearance was required. The Navy asked for but was denied information from the CIA regarding Pollard, including the results of their pre-employment polygraph test revealing Pollard's excessive [[Recreational drug use|drug use]].<ref name="olive10" />

Pollard was given temporary non-SCI security clearances pending completion of his background check, which was normal for new hires at the time. He was assigned to temporary duty at another NIC Department, the Naval Intelligence Support Center (NISC) Surface Ships Division, where he could work on tasks that did not require SCI clearance. NOSIC's current operations facility and the NISC were co-located in [[Suitland, Maryland]].

Two months after Pollard was hired, he approached the technical director of NOSIC, Richard Haver, and offered to start a back-channel operation with the [[National Intelligence Service (South Africa)|South African intelligence service]]. He also lied about his father being involved with CIA operations in South Africa. Haver became wary of Pollard and requested that he be terminated. However, Haver's boss believed that Pollard's supposed connection with South African intelligence could be useful, and he reassigned him to a Navy human intelligence (HUMINT) operation, [[Task Force]] 168 (TF-168).<ref name="olive10" /> This office was within Naval Intelligence Command (NIC), the headquarters for Navy intelligence operations (located in a separate building, but still within the Suitland Federal Center complex.) It was later discovered that Pollard had lied repeatedly during the vetting process for this position: he denied illegal drug use, claimed his father had been a CIA operative, misrepresented his language abilities and his educational achievements, and claimed to have applied for a commission as officer in the Naval Reserve.<ref name="olive10" /> A month later Pollard received his SCI clearances and was transferred from NISC to TF-168.

While transferring to his new job at TF-168, Pollard again initiated a meeting with someone far up the chain of command, this time with Admiral [[Sumner Shapiro]], Commander, Naval Intelligence Command (CNIC), about an idea he had for TF-168 and South Africa. (The TF-168 group had passed on his ideas.) After the meeting, Shapiro immediately ordered that Pollard's security clearances be revoked and that he be reassigned to a non-sensitive position. According to ''[[The Washington Post]]'', Shapiro dismissed Pollard as a "kook", saying later, "I wish the hell I'd fired him".<ref name="Bernstein">{{cite news|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2006/11/16/AR2006111600153.html|title=Sumner Shapiro, Long-Serving Director of Naval Intelligence|last=Bernstein|first=Adam|date=November 16, 2006|newspaper=The Washington Post|access-date=September 6, 2008}}</ref>

Because of the job transfer, Shapiro's order to remove Pollard's security clearances was neglected. However, Shapiro's office followed up with a request to TF-168 that Pollard be investigated by the CIA. The CIA found Pollard to be a risk and recommended that he not be used in any intelligence collection operation. A subsequent polygraph test was inconclusive, although it did prompt Pollard to admit to [[making false statements]] to his superiors, prior drug use, and having unauthorized contacts with representatives of foreign governments.<ref name="olive20">[[#refOlive2006|Olive 2006]], pp. 20–22</ref> The special agent administering the test felt that Pollard, who at times "began shouting and shaking and making gagging sounds as if he were going to vomit", was feigning illness to invalidate the test. He recommended against Pollard's being granted access to highly classified information.<ref name="olive20" /> Pollard was also required to be evaluated by a [[psychiatrist]].<ref name="olive20" />

Pollard's clearance was reduced to Secret.<ref name="olive20" /> He subsequently filed a grievance and threatened lawsuits to recover his SCI clearance. While awaiting his grievance to be addressed, he worked on less sensitive material and began receiving excellent performance reviews.<ref>[[#refOlive2006|Olive 2006]], p. 28</ref> In 1982, after the psychiatrist concluded Pollard had no mental illness, Pollard's clearance was upgraded to SCI. In October 1984, after some re-organization of the Navy's intelligence departments, Pollard applied for and was accepted into a job as an analyst for the Naval Intelligence Command.{{Citation needed|date=September 2011}}