[1][2] deGraffenreid has worked in the highest echelons of the United States Intelligence Community with The New Yorker reporting in 2004 that he was responsible for all the Department of Defense's Special Access Programs (SAPs).
[4] He was an early pioneer in the academic sub-discipline of intelligence studies which was in its nascency when he began teaching in 1992. deGraffenreid graduated from Purdue University in 1967, and earned an M.A.
He did legislative work and conducted a study of the security implications of Soviet intelligence activities directed at U.S. arms control monitoring capabilities.
[8] For three years he was a senior vice president with JAYCOR, a California-based research, development, and systems engineering firm.
For two years he was also vice president of policy-analysis firm National Security Concepts based in the Washington, D.C., area.
He was also a frequent guest commentator on television programs including ABC's Nightline, PBS's MacNeil-Lehrer Newshour, CNN's Crossfire, and the Fox News Channel.
[5] A native of the Chicago area, deGraffenreid is the father of two children and lived near Annapolis, Maryland until his retirement move to Maine.