Darrell M. Blocker recently completed a successful 32-year career in the U.S. Intelligence Community earning the CIA’s Distinguished Career Intelligence Medal upon his retirement. He served four years as an Analyst in the U.S. Air Force (1987-1990) and 27 years as a CIA Operative (1990-2018). His career highlights include serving as Chief of the CIA’s iconic training facility, Deputy Director of the Counter-terrorism Center, Chief of Africa Division, and multiple tours as a Chief of Station. As the time of his retirement in October 2018, Blocker was the most senior black officer in the CIA’s Directorate of Operations with the rank equivalency of a three-star general.

     Blocker has lived and worked in ten foreign countries including Italy, Okinawa, South Korea, Niger, Senegal, Morocco, Nigeria, Uganda, Pakistan, and Switzerland. He has also spent time in Somalia after “Blackhawk Down” and in Burundi after the Hutu-Tutsi massacres. He has been working with federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies since 1994, and has established strong working relationships with a myriad of domestic and foreign intelligence, security, and law enforcement institutions in Africa, Europe, and Asia.