ASC Coffee Chats: Careers in Counterterrorism
19 April, 2022
The College of Arts and Sciences hosted Adam Jones to discuss his education and career in counterterrorism. Mr. Jones described his career path to us and detailed how he entered the counterterrorism field. As listed on Handshake, his accomplishments include “served as Chief of Staff to Acting Principal Deputy Director of National Intelligence… Chief of Staff and Senior Policy Advisor to the President’s Homeland Security and Counterterrorism Advisor at the White House and supported a presidential transition as an IC analytical representative. Earlier in his career, he served on the staff of the President’s Daily Brief, the National Intelligence Council, the National Counterproliferation Center, the US Commission on the Prevention of WMD Proliferation and Terrorism, and as a targeter in the CIA’s Directorate of Operations. He began his career in the IC as a speechwriter to the Director and Principal Deputy Director of National Intelligence.” This was really interesting to hear about because I want to pursue a career in counterterrorism. I enjoyed hearing his anecdotes from his time in the White House. I thought it was very interesting that he did not start in counterterrorism and did not think his career would ever take a global focus. This event is related to IA because the career is internationally focused and it requires knowledge of other countries and cultures. This event really related to my academic career and my future career goals because I was able to hear how things I’ve learned in the classroom are applied to real life. Mr. Jones gave a great insight to the different career paths in counterterrorism, including the positive and negative aspects. This event was a great informal way to ask questions and receive advice for pursuing a similar career path and Mr. Jones was a very intelligent and engaging speaker.