Mr. Wachtell served the United States Government for over 30 years, spending ten years with the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and 22 years with the CIA. In 1984, Mr. Wachtell completed polygraph training at the CIA and was certified as a Polygraph Examiner by both the CIA and the Department of Defense Polygraph Institute (DoDPI). Over the next 20 years Mr. Wachtell traveled the world over conducting over 4,000 operational specific issue polygraph tests, counterintelligence screening tests, and other high-risk/high-gain polygraph examinations on behalf of the CIA and other federal agencies.

In 1997, the CIA’s Polygraph Division promoted Mr. Wachtell to the position of “Chief Examiner,” a position he held until September 2003. He is considered a subject matter expert in polygraph, behavioral analysis and rapport-based information elicitation techniques.

In November 2004, Mr. Wachtell moved to the private sector, accepting a position with SAIC, Inc. as a Security Analyst, where he assisted the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency (NGA) with establishing their newly authorized polygraph program.  NGA certified Mr. Wachtell to conduct sensitive counterintelligence-related polygraph examinations in support of their personnel security screening program.

In April 2005, Mr. Wachtell joined Abraxas Corporation as Managing Director of its Deception Detection Services business area. From April 2005-April 2009, he taught behavioral analysis and elicitation at the Federal Law Enforcement Training Center (FLETC) in Glynco, GA. In April 2009, Mr. Wachtell joined the FLETC's instruction staff as a Senior Instructor in it's Counterterrorism Division. Mr. Wachtell now provides training to Customs and Border Protection (CBP) Officers and Agents at the FLETC in his role as Lead Instructor on CBP's Detecting Deception and Eliciting Responses training program.