Before retiring in 2009 with the rank of Lieutenant Colonel after twenty-one years of service in the US Air Force, Atallah's military career included aviation, special operations, intelligence, and counterterrorism. In his last military posting, he served in the Office of the Secretary of Defense as Africa Counterterrorism Director (2003-09), while concurrently holding positions as East Africa Director (2003-07) and Country Director for Morocco and Tunisia (2007-09). He was Air Force Defense Attaché accredited to six West African countries; Director of the Sub-Saharan Africa Orientation Course at the Joint Special Operations University; and instructor pilot with over 4 000 flight hours, including combat flight time. A native of Beirut, Lebanon, fluent in Arabic and French, Atallah holds a Bachelor of science in Electrical and Biomedical Engineering from the University of Connecticut and a Master’s degree of science in International Relations from Troy University.