The Navy is assigning 10 reservists to help work through a backlog in interim security clearances affecting the industrial base, including Electric Boat, the only "hiccup" in the hiring process, a top executive said recently.

The reservists will assist in processing interim clearances for critical industrial base personnel, according to the Navy.

U.S. Rep. Joe Courtney, D-2nd District, in a recent phone interview said the Navy's "one-time decision shows the scope of the problem is unprecedented."

"They're taking an unprecedented step to put a dent this," he added.

The federal background investigations backlog hit 500,000 in September 2016. Last year, it took the Office of Personnel Management, which handles more than 95 percent of the federal government's background investigations, 108 days to complete investigations for those seeking a secret clearance for the first time, according to the agency's fiscal year 2016 performance report. The target is 40 days. And it took 220 days for the agency to complete investigations for those seeking a top secret clearance for the first time. The target is 80 days.

The backlog has impeded government and contractor personnel seeking jobs at places like EB.

More than 600 new hires at EB are awaiting an interim security clearance, and nearly 700 new hires have an interim clearance and are awaiting the completion of a background investigation, at which point, provided they pass the investigation, they will receive a permanent clearance, according to EB spokeswoman Liz Power.

The vast majority of employees at EB hold security clearances, and very few people start at the company without one.

Testifying before a Senate Armed Services subcommittee on May 24, John Casey, president of General Dynamics, which owns EB, said "the only hiccup we've had in hiring is getting security clearances processed."

"We like it to take a few weeks. It's been taking months to process an interim clearance, let alone a permanent clearance," Casey said. "So that slows our ability to get people into the workforce."

It's been difficult to sit in on production meetings, Casey said, and hear from the general foreman or the foreman that "I'm short 10 people, and I know that I've got 300 people that are waiting for their clearances right outside the gate, ready to come to work."

Another downside, he said, is that people get impatient and find other work, or they can't afford to wait several months and have to find another job to support their family.

Asked whether the process was improving or getting worse, Casey said it was getting better "but not by a lot."

EB has hired 10,000 people since 2011, according to Casey, and is expected to hire more than that in the next six years. The company, which currently has about 15,000 employees, is on track to have a workforce of 18,000 by 2030. That will require hiring 15,000 to 20,000 people, accounting for new positions and normal attrition.

Power said EB is "encouraged that there will be additional resources put toward addressing requests for clearances."

As a temporary solution to help employees get to work while they wait for their clearances to be finalized, EB has worked with the Navy to reduce the physical size of the area in the shipyard where employees are required to have a clearance, Power said.

But, as Casey pointed out in his testimony, "As ships get near completion, you have a live reactor core inside a ship, the rules are pretty tight."

To offset the slowdown in the clearance process, EB has worked to reduce the time it takes to hire someone from 163 days to 60 days. That's the time between when a person applies and when they receive an offer from the company. The goal is to get that number down to 45 days.

j.bergman@theday.com