Coggins International Hosts Photo Shoot with Retired Senior CIA Executive, Gene Poteat, at the 2010 DESC Worldwide Energy Conference

Atlanta, GA - April 30, 2010 – Coggins International, a global consulting, systems integration and technology services company, announced today that it will be hosting a photo shoot with retired senior Central Intelligence Agency executive, Gene Poteat, at the 2010 DESC Worldwide Energy Conference. Attendees are invited to visit the Coggins International booth, #132, in the exhibit hall of the Gaylord National Hotel & Convention Center, between the hours of 11am and 1pm to meet Mr. Poteat and have their photo taken with him. Photos will be provided via email.

Gene Poteat was awarded the CIA's Intelligence Medal of Merit and the National Reconnaissance Office Meritorious Civilian Award. He is President of AFIO - the Association for Intelligence Officers and is on the Board of Advisors of the International Spy Museum.

He graduated from The Citadel with a B.S. in Electrical Engineering in 1957, and holds a Master's degree in Statecraft and National Security Affairs with a specialization in Intelligence Studies from the Institute of World Politics in Washington, D.C. He has also taken graduate courses in foreign policy, national security and intelligence at Cambridge University.

Gene began his career with the Bell Telephone Laboratories in New Jersey and Cape Canaveral, Florida, as a missile guidance engineer. He was a program manager for the sensors on the Lockheed U-2 and the Lockheed SR-71 Blackbird. His CIA assignments included work on the U-2 and OXCART spy planes and the first spy satellites, the technical staff of the National Reconnaissance Office, Technical Director of the Navy's special programs office, and Director of the Intelligence Research and Development Council. He also managed the CIA's worldwide network of intelligence monitoring sites. He also served abroad in England, Scandinavia and the Middle East.

Gene received a special CIA Medal for his development and fielding of innovative intelligence collection systems. He has appeared on BBC TV, the History Channel, and several TV networks as an expert on Intelligence and national security. Gene writes and lectures on intelligence and national security matters.

He serves currently as President of the Association for Intelligence Officers, a 4,500 professional membership association, whose mission is to educate the American people on the critical need for an effective, professional, and accountable Intelligence Community. Gene also served on the advisory board of the International Spy Museum in Washington during its creation. He is a widower and lives in Old Town Alexandria, Virginia near his two daughters; one a prosecutor in the Department of Justice, the other an airline captain and aviation attorney.