D.A. Roll is a writer, consultant, retired CIA Operations Officer, and former soldier. His three and a half decades of service have taken him around the globe, from the Kalahari Desert to the Korean Demilitarized Zone, from Europe to Africa, to the Hindu Kush, and scores of exotic locations in between. He is the recipient of the Bronze Star and the CIA Career Intelligence Medal.

Born in southeast Pennsylvania, D.A. grew up outside a small town in rural Bucks County. His passion for storytelling began in elementary school. His earliest writing focused on science fiction and (strangely) talking dogs. Decades later, he still cannot explain those narrative choices.

He attended Bloomsburg University, where he graduated Cum Laude with a BA in Humanities. His Honors Program thesis – a three-act play titled RAIN – focused on the experiences of soldiers in Viet Nam. Written on a LOTUS word processor and printed on dot-matrix, it is now lost to the sands of time.

D.A. enlisted in the Army before starting university and four years later was commissioned as a second lieutenant in the U.S. Army Infantry. Most of his 23 years of military service was in the Regular Army, including command assignments in both conventional and special operations forces. His military career was filled with the assorted tomfoolery and hijinks common to service members and included far too many jumps from perfectly functional airplanes.

Does he regret it? Not at all. But his knees and joints certainly do.

He retired from military service in 2009.

D.A. Roll entered onto duty with the CIA a month prior to the attacks of September 11th, 2001, an event that would profoundly shape his career and the next two decades of his life. Over the next 20 years, he would serve in various overseas locations in Europe, Africa, Southwest Asia, and Washington D.C. His career focused on a variety of strategic issues – including counterterrorism, counterintelligence, covert action, and weapons of mass destruction – and included leadership assignments overseas and in headquarters. His work frequently involved working closely with National Security partners – including FBI, DEA, USSS, and various elements from the Department of Defense – as well as multiple foreign liaison partners. As one might expect, much of his clandestine service cannot be discussed beyond what’s already vaguely described in this paragraph, but he will share this little tidbit from his retirement citation.

“He always ran toward the fight and did his country proud.”

D.A. Roll is certain that is a euphemism for ‘frequently displayed poor judgement’ but will take the kinder version.

Now retired from federal service, he works as a consultant in the utilities industry and resides in his native Pennsylvania with two teenagers, a judgmental feline and a rescue doggo named “Charlotte” who is seemingly, always hungry. When not working or writing, he is most likely reading, painting, or shuttling his son to the next sporting event.