Lt Colonel Donald G. Hukle received his Air Force commission in 1969, and graduated from the Armed Forces Air Intelligence Training Center in Denver, Colorado, in 1970. His first assignments were in Southeast Asia, where he volunteered for two tours of duty as a Laotian Intelligence Analyst with Air Force Special Operations. He also served as an Air Force liaison to Air America, the Central Intelligence Agency, and the US Embassy in Laos.
Following the Vietnam era, Lt Col Hukle transferred to Langley AFB, Virginia, where he served as a military, political, and economic intelligence analyst for Tactical Air Command. In 1979, he moved to the Pentagon where he was an editor and briefer for the daily intelligence briefing to the Chief of Staff of the US Air Force (CSAF). He later moved to the European desk in Air Force Intelligence, preparing the Air Force position for National Intelligence Estimates (NIEs) involving Western Europe and NATO. This led to an appointment with the USAF Soviet Awareness Team, a highly-selective program sponsored by the CSAF. To prepare for this assignment, he conducted research in the Soviet Union in 1981, and has since visited every former Soviet Republic in Europe, except Belarus.
In 1983, Lt Col Hukle attended the Armed Force Staff College in Norfolk, Virginia, and began a four year assignment at NATO’s Allied Forces Central Europe (AFCENT) headquarters in The Netherlands. Serving as the Deputy Chief for Air Intelligence, he developed the air intelligence sections for NATO’s General Defense Plan for Europe’s Central Region, represented the command at NATO’s Air Order of Battle and Airfield Catalog conferences, and served as a team chief in the Central Region’s Alternate War Headquarters during exercises and deployments.
In 1987, Lt Col Hukle returned to Washington, becoming a Professor of Scientific and Technical Intelligence at the Defense Intelligence College. He developed and conducted orientation courses for inspectors supporting international treaties on arms control and disarmament, working with the State Department and the On Site Inspection Agency (OSIA). He also authored textbooks on the Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty (START), the Nuclear Testing Treaties (NTT), and the Chemical Weapons Agreement (CW), using his extensive background in International Affairs.
In 1992, Lt Col Hukle returned to the Pentagon as Team Chief for USAF Intelligence Education Programs, with a budget totaling $17 million annually. In this position, he directed the Air Force Foreign Language Program; and provided oversight on fellowships, scholarships, and postgraduate studies for Air Force Intelligence personnel. In 1993, he retired from the Air Force, accepting his current position with the National Intelligence University at the Defense Intelligence Agency (DIA). For the past 20 years, he has conducted courses and written textbooks on intelligence analytical techniques, defense industrial analysis, the United States Intelligence Community (IC), and communications skills. He has also taught international courses for allied officers, sponsored over fifty international officers while they attended courses in Washington, and has visited over 60 countries on five continents as a goodwill ambassador.
Lt Col Hukle’s military awards include two Joint Meritorious Service Medals, three Air Force Meritorious Service Medals, and two Air Force Commendations Medals. Lt Col Hukle holds a graduate degree in Political Geography, with a focus on Europe.