John Douglas
John Douglas serves as the Chief of Staff to the Principal Deputy Director for National Intelligence. In this capacity, he advises and assists the PDDNI in executing, managing, and overseeing ODNI’s global intelligence enterprise.
With 30 years of service to the nation, Mr. Douglas has had an extensive national security career spanning the U.S. military, the Intelligence Community and the White House, including over a decade of service overseas in dozens of countries in every region of the world.
Prior to ODNI, Mr. Douglas spent two decades serving as a Paramilitary Operations Officer in the Central Intelligence Agency’s elite Special Activities Center. In this capacity, he served as Chief of Paramilitary Operations in numerous war zones and other austere environments, leading counterterrorism operations and other sensitive activities. He also led CIA’s global strategic communications unit, oversaw worldwide counternarcotics operations and managed a wide array of other covert and clandestine activities.
At the White House, Mr. Douglas served as a senior policymaker in the Intelligence Programs Directorate at the National Security Council. As the Director for Sensitive Messaging, he synchronized strategic intelligence and policy initiatives with other senior policymakers at the Department of State, Department of Defense, Department of Treasury, Department of Commerce, and Congress in order to advance America’s vital national security mission.
Prior to joining the CIA, Mr. Douglas served as an Infantry Officer in the U.S. Marine Corps, where he commanded various infantry units, deployed as a combat advisor to foreign militaries, and served as an acquisitions program manager.
Mr. Douglas is a native of Lake Junaluska, North Carolina. He earned a Bachelor of Arts Degree in Economics from the University of Virginia and a Master of Arts in Security Studies from Georgetown University.
Mr. Douglas’s additional professional achievements at CIA and in the broader Intelligence Community, including the details of his numerous personal and unit awards, remain classified.