Welcome back to the Grey Dynamics Podcast! Today we are talking to Esther Atwell, a former linguist and collection manager who spent over a decade at the Central Intelligence Agency (CIA). Esther has had a varied career beyond intelligence, working as a tutor, realtor and court interpreter on the island of Hawaii. We discussed working in the CIA and overseas, what it takes to work in intelligence, immigrating to the US and much more. Esther is also the partner of our previous guest, CIA operations officer John Atwell.
Find Esther Atwell:
We Spoke About:
- 01:10 – Early life, learning languages, tutoring, living overseas and joining the CIA with her husband.
- 18:42 – Being an Operationally Certified Collection Management Officer
- 23:59 – The desired traits of someone who wants to work in this field
- 28:47 – Esether’s view on faith and not mourning over missed opportunity
- 33:30 – Immigrating to the US and sense of patriotic duty
- 40:05 – Esther on working in the CIA and overseas as a woman and someone with a foreign heritage
- 45:50 – Advice for young people looking to work in intelligence
- 54:16 – Cultural recommendations
Related Links:
- Senior CIA Ops Officer John Atwell on Culture Change, Working with Five Eyes and Career Advice
- Canadian Intelligence, the ICC and Career Development with Kelly Wong
- Crypto Currency Intelligence with Keven Hendricks
- Director of MENA Analytica Dr Andreas Krieg on Strategic Weaponization of Narratives
- Sibylline Head of Global Intelligence Gareth Westwood on Intelligence Management
- German Military Intelligence Officer and Trainer Ole Donner on Intelligence Education
- DIA Counterintelligence Officer and Scholar on the FSB with Kevin P. Riehle
- Electronic Warfare, SIGINT and Corporate Intelligence with Michael Blicher Soerensen
- From the Defence Human Intelligence Unit to Recruitment with Mack
- What do Humanitarian NGOs and the Private Sector want from Intelligence? With E.
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