He identified that moment as partly inspiring his decision to go into intelligence, special operations, and counterterrorism work.

[5] During his 34-year long government career, he spent 25 years in counterintelligence, human intelligence, and with special operations forces in the US Army.

[12] From May 2009 until December 2015, Costa was with the Naval Special Warfare Development Group, where he was the first civilian squadron deputy director.

[17][18] In May 2013, Costa was inducted into the United States Special Operations Command's (USSOCOM) Commando Hall of Honor.

[19][20] He has two Bronze Stars for human intelligence work in Afghanistan, as well as the Defense Superior Service Medal and the Legion of Merit.