Prior to entering the Foreign Service, Battle worked in Uganda for 10 years, as well as in Pakistan and Libya.
After completing entry training, he began his career as a consular officer in Manama, Bahrain, serving there from 1977 to 1979.
In 1989, he returned to the Middle East as head of the Consular Section in Cairo from 1989 to 1991 and as deputy chief of mission in Beirut, from 1991 to 1994.
Well-versed in Middle Eastern Affairs, he was asked to rejoin the embassy in Cairo as deputy chief of mission, where he served from 1996 to 1999.
In September 1999, he became the director of the Office for Career Development and Assignments, in the newly named Bureau of Human Resources.