Coffee and Conversation with Bill Lietzau

On Tuesday, February 14, 2023, William Lietzau, Director of the Defense Counterintelligence and Security Agency (DCSA) joined INSA’s President, Suzanne Wilson Heckenberg, for a virtual discussion focused on Trusted Workforce 2.0, CI threats to the DIB, the new personnel vetting questionnaire, workforce issues and more!

Since the last time he joined an INSA virtual program, Director Lietzau expounded upon the substantial maturation of the agency, as well as the distinct missions that have been established over the course of the last two years. DCSA has established new strategic goals to pursue new means of improving how personnel vetting is conducted. He highlighted how the Trusted Workforce 2.0 initiative was designed to bring down timelines and has seen an 80% reduction in investigation timelines. As the Trusted Workforce 2.0 continues to mature, Director Lietzau highlighted the importance of the continuous vetting model, that will allow for a faster and higher quality personnel security process for the workforce. Furthermore, as the initiative continues to yield greater success, there has been a price reduction of 18% of overall costs of investigations.

One of the most significant changes to personnel security that Director Lietzau addressed was the implementation of the new Personnel Vetting Questionnaire (PVQ) that is designed to replace the SF-86 and similar security forms. The updated PVQ is designed to provide a streamlined and expeditious process for the applicants and implement new questions in personnel security for the digital age.

He went on to discuss the challenges of workforce recruitment, development, and acquisition, as well as improving partnerships with acquisition officials. As DCSA continues to pursue their mission of preemptive foreign intelligence threats, the use of data analytics and industrial security continues to be an area of importance.

The important insights shared in this conversation demonstrate DCSA’s commitment to serving the trusted workforce swiftly, while ensuring thorough vetting, for a more robust and effective personnel security process.