Atwood also served as a national defense fellow at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy where he wrote about Syria.

October 2001 – May 2002, Student, Intelligence Applications Officer Course, Goodfellow Air Force Base, TX 2.

June 2005 – December 2005, Student, Intelligence Instructor Course, USAF Weapons School, Nellis AFB, Nev. 5.

July 2017 – June 2018, Student, National War College, Fort Lesley J. McNair, Washington, D.C. 15.

July 2018 – May 2020, Chief, Intelligence Capabilities and Requirements Division, U.S. Special Operations Command, MacDill AFB, Fla. 16.