Charlie Allen

During his more than 40 years at the CIA, Charlie became as much a legend as a respected senior official. He earned a reputation for plain speaking, even when his opinions differed from those of senior officials.

Charlie became the principal adviser to the Director of Central Intelligence on collection management, where he revolutionized the way the various national intelligence agencies coordinate and target their activities. In the same vein, Charlie chaired the National Intelligence Collection Board, which united all intelligence agencies under common collection strategies.

He also served as CIA’s National Intelligence Officer for Warning, Director of the National Warning Staff, National Intelligence Officer for Counterterrorism and Deputy Chief for Intelligence of CIA’s Counterterrorism Center. Charlie also directed the DCI Hostage Location Task Force, which focused on locating American hostages held by Hezballah in Lebanon.

At DHS, Charlie developed the department’s intelligence architecture, integrated its intelligence activities and ensured that they were continuously aligned with the department’s evolving priorities. He also accelerated and expanded the department’s processes for sharing intelligence with state and local security and law enforcement officials.

Charlie is a graduate of the University of North Carolina and a distinguished graduate of the Air War College; he also did graduate studies at Auburn University.