General Don Alston is the President of Alston Strategic Consulting, LLC, specializing in issues related to nuclear weapons operations, security, and system development. He has extensive experience in congressional relations, national and international media engagement, crisis management, and large-scale institutional change. He retired from active duty after 34 years of service.

His last three U.S. Air Force assignments included duty as Commander, 20th Air Force, Air Force Global Strike Command, and Commander, Task Force 214, U.S. Strategic Command, Francis E. Warren AFB, WY; the first Assistant Chief of Staff, Strategic Deterrence and Nuclear Integration, Headquarters U.S. Air Force, Washington, D.C.; and Director, Air Force Nuclear Task Force, Nuclear Operations, Plans and Requirements, Deputy Chief of Staff for Operations, Plans and Requirements, Headquarters U.S. Air Force, Washington, D.C. General Alston retired from active duty in September 2012 after 34 years of service.

He is on the Board of the Strategic Deterrent Coalition and serves as the Executive Director of the SDC Board of Regents. The SDC is a nonprofit, nonpartisan community-based organization formed to support the Nuclear Triad by providing educational information on the importance to our nation of maintaining a safe, secure, and effective nuclear deterrent. General Alston is on the Board of the Association of Air Force Missileers and currently serves as Vice President. He is a Senior Fellow at the Potomac Foundation. He served seven years as a Occupational Health and Safety Administration Commissioner for the State of Wyoming.  Alston also served as an Adjunct Faculty Member, Air Force Institute of Technology School of Strategic Force Studies.

General Alston earned a Bachelor of Science degree from the U.S. Air Force Academy, a Master of Business Administration from Golden Gate University and a Master's degree in Global Studies with a concentration in Cybersecurity from Arizona State University. He is a graduate of the National Security Management Course at The Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs, Syracuse University; 6-Sigma AFSO Leadership Course from the University of Tennessee; and the Senior Executives in National and International Security Program, John F. Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University.