Colonel (retired) Brett Compston lives in Reno, Nevada. Compston assumed duties as the Chief of Emergency Management / Homeland Security for the State of Nevada on November 02, 2024.
Compston retired from the Nevada Army National Guard (NVARNG) in 2024. Most recently he served as the Director of Operations, Training, and Plans for the Nevada Army National Guard. Compston was responsible for all NVARNG training, operations, mobilizations, force development, modernization, & plans. Compston was an Army Aviation Officer and spent nine years on active duty before joining the Nevada National Guard (NVNG).
Compston spent 15 years specializing in National Guard Domestic Operations. He served as the Commander and Deputy Commander of a National Guard Weapons of Mass Destruction - Civil Support Team (7 years), as the NVNG Joint Plans Officer (1 year), Regimental Commander (2 years), and as the Director of Joint & Domestic Operations (5 years). Compston served as the principle joint staff officer responsible for NVNG domestic operations, planning, training, and support to civil authorities within the State of Nevada and continental United States. Compston was responsible for and led specialty capabilities and subordinate units and task forces related to weapons of mass destruction response (WMD), Counter-Drug operations, civil disturbance operations, a joint operations center (JOC), provost marshal, anti-terrorism, emergency management, force protection, and integration and synergy with fusion centers in NV. His team also led the NVNG disaster response line of effort with international partner nations Fiji and Tonga.
During the pandemic, Compston was named Nevada’s Incident Commander for the COVID-19 pandemic response, served as a member of the Governor’s inter-agency COVID coordination group, was temporarily assigned for half of 2020 to lead the Nevada Division of Emergency Management, and served on the Governor’s COVID Mitigation and Management Task Force.
Compston has deployed to Iraq, Afghanistan, Bosnia, and was stationed in Germany for four years.
Compston served on numerous leadership committees to include the Nevada Homeland Security Commission, the Nevada Resiliency Advisory Committee, and Truckee Meadows Community College Bachelor of Applied Science in Emergency Management / Homeland Security Advisory Committee. He is a member of the International Association of Emergency Managers, Nevada Emergency Preparedness Association, and National Emergency Management Association. He formerly served on Nevada’s Intra-state mutual aid committee, Nevada’s Homeland Security Working Group, and National Guard Bureau’s Joint Operations Functional Advisory Council.
Compston graduated with a Bachelor’s in Criminal Justice from the University of Nevada, Reno, holds a Master’s degree from the University of Maryland, a Master’s in Strategic Studies from the U.S. Army War College, and a Harvard Kennedy School Executive Certificate in Public Leadership. Compston is a graduate of the Harvard Kennedy School Senior Executive Fellows program.
Compston is a FEMA Vanguard Executive Crisis Leaders Fellow (2024), a 2023 graduate of the Naval Post Graduate School’s Center for Homeland Defense and Security - Executive Leader Program, a FEMA Master Exercise Practitioner, U.S. Northern Command certified Dual Status Commander, and is pursuing a Certified Emergency Manager credential.