He served in the Indonesian Army for over 30 years prior to entering politics, and reached the rank of brigadier general.

[1] After graduating from the military academy, Nasution was assigned as a platoon, later company commander for operations in East Timor.

[1] In January 2018, Nasution resigned from the armed forces in order to run in the 2018 Riau gubernatorial election.

[2] Becoming the running mate to Syamsuar, the pair defeated incumbent Arsyadjuliandi Rachman after winning 799,289 votes (38.2%).

[4] On 5 October 2023, Syamsuar resigned from his post as governor in order to run for a seat in the House of Representatives.