Don led the Air National Guard, commanding over 110,000 personnel, 1400 aircraft, 88 flying units, and 250 support units spread throughout the 54 states and territories. He was uniquely successful in attracting and retaining the volunteer “Citizen-soldiers” who form the backbone of the National Guard. Under his leadership, The Guard achieved an unparralled record of performance and readiness. Shepperd was the architect of the highly successful "CyberGuard", a program to bring the Air National Guard into the world of high technology, embedded information systems and fiber optic networks with distributed communications and distance learning capabilities. As part of his responsibilities, Don worked with the Governors of all 50 states, numerous Congressional committee heads and Representatives from both sides of the aisle in both houses of Congress.

Don is a well-known speaker and author. His plain, straight and simple talk about the vexing problems of leading people in organizations of all sizes, makes him a popular commentator on ABC radio and a member of several boards.

General Shepperd is a graduate of the United States Air Force Academy class of 1962 and holds a Masters degree in personnel management. He continues to serve his country as an ad hoc member of the Air Force Scientific Advisory Board.

Don Shepperd’s unique appeal is his “been there-done that” experience. He has been "in the trenches," as a line worker; a salesman; a sales manager; a supervisor; a sector vice president; a president; a CEO. An excellent storyteller, he is able to capture the significant lessons from his experience and report them in an entertaining and educational manner.

Don’s areas of expertise include leadership, corporate culture, executive coaching, organizational change and development, empowerment and team performance.