John Atwell

About John Atwell

Three decades of experience in national security, including running and managing complex intelligence collection operations and programs, intelligence analysis and the production of finished intelligence for senior consumers in Washington, DC, transportation security (checkpoint operations and behavioral detection), screening and recruiting new intelligence officers, and teaching intelligence studies, security (border, transportation, homeland), and criminology at the college level. Also trained and worked in the areas of talent management and career counseling in the IC. Currently focused on serving as a HUMINT skills instructor (FTC), editor-in-chief for all-source analytic products, intelligence news publications editor, national security columnist, college lecturer, and international public speaker.A mission-driven problem solver and risk manager with a penchant for analyzing complex situations—to include organizational inefficiencies—and conveying solutions in simple, easy to understand, actionable terms. An effective communicator who engages in consulting work—from residential and property security to confidential informant handling to personal security, safety, and efficiency in international travel.Career does not define me, though. I have played the lead in an operetta, performed in Notre Dame Cathedral while on tour in Europe with a choir, trapped and studied black bears in the Smokey Mountains, worked in a cancer research lab at the National Institutes of Health (where I co-authored my first published work at age 17), and built an off-grid homestead to raise turkeys, goats, chickens, honeybees, and more. I have worked on archaeological digs in Southeast Asia and was a search and rescue ground pounder with the Appalachian Search and Rescue Conference for five years.It’s been quite a journey and I’m looking forward to inking the next chapter. I welcome opportunities that would leverage my skillsets and experience.

Experience

1. Lecturer

   Hawaii Community College

   Oct 2023 — Present

   Lecturer on intelligence and national security matters and criminology.

Education

• University of Virginia

  Bachelor of Arts - BA

  1989 — 1992