Joe Del Campo

Joseph P. Del Campo (born July 4, 1943) is an American FBI agent and private investigator best known for competing on the reality competition show Survivor.

Del Campo was born July 4, 1943, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He attended Father Judge High School in Philadelphia, then enrolled at nearby La Salle University, majoring in Spanish. Part of his college curriculum had him studying abroad, at the University of Madrid. He completed his Bachelor of Arts degree at La Salle in 1967.

Following college, Del Campo enlisted in the United States Naval Reserve, during which time he attended Aviation Officer Candidate School at Naval Air Station Pensacola in Florida. After issues with his sinuses prevented him from completing his pilot accreditation, he was transferred to Miami where he began working in the field of intelligence. One of his duties was to keep Cuban spies from infiltrating the refugee population entering the United States.

Del Campo left the Naval Reserve as a lieutenant (junior grade) in 1971. From there, he joined the FBI as a special agent in Urbana, Illinois. He would spend the next 25 years with the Bureau, working all over the country in such places as Washington, D.C., Milwaukee, Miami, and Philadelphia.

He was once partnered with famed FBI agent John E. Douglas during the 1970s, when they were assigned to work as bank robbery investigators in Milwaukee. In 1975, while working as an investigator of organized crime, Del Campo earned a Master of Science degree in Educational Administration and Supervision, from the University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee.

One of the most notable moments of Del Campo's career came one winter's day, when he saved a child being held hostage. A fugitive from Chicago had made his way to Milwaukee and proceeded to shoot a few officers before taking a young boy hostage. As the fugitive was trying to escape with the boy, Del Campo climbed onto the steep, icy roof of a house, took aim with his gun, and fired. The fugitive was hit in the back of the neck, and the boy escaped unharmed.

In 1996, Del Campo retired from the FBI, moved to Vero Beach, Florida, and founded his own private investigator company, called The Excalibur Group. He has also served as a guest commentator on Fox News Channel's On the Record w/ Greta Van Susteren.

In 2015, Del Campo, at the age of 71, was selected as one of 18 castaways to compete on Survivor: Kaôh Rōng, the 32nd season of Survivor overall. As the theme of the season was Brains vs. Brawn vs. Beauty, he was assigned to "Brains" and thus placed on the Chan Loh tribe at the very start. As the oldest player of the season, he made an early alliance with Debbie Wanner, who happened to be the eldest woman of that season. On Day 12, he and Wanner were separated when the tribes were switched around, as he ended up moving to the Gondol tribe, along with fellow Brains Aubry Bracco and Peter Baggenstos, while Wanner ended up staying on Chan Loh with fellow Brain Neal Gottlieb.