Hokanson Will Assume Command of Oregon Guard's 41st Infantry Brigade Combat Team

The photos of Dan Hokanson accompanying this article were recorded by Tim King while embedded with the 41st Brigade Combat Team in Afghanistan last year, which Hokanson will now command.

Dan Hokanson has spent a lot of time at the controls of aircraft, but in this shot he is a passenger along with several other colonels and generals enroute to award American soldiers for heroic actions performed in combat. Photo by: Tim King

(SALEM, Ore.) - The former commander of the Oregon Army National Guard's aviation unit, Colonel Daniel Hokanson, will assume command of the 41 Infantry Brigade Combat Team, during a ceremony at the Salem Armory Auditorium, on March 8th, 2008.

Hokanson at the Ghar summit outside Kabul, Afghanistan

The ceremony is set to begin at 11:00 AM and it is an event that is open to the public.

Dan Hokanson served in various command positions within the Oregon Army National Guard since 1995, after almost 10 years in the Active Duty Army.

He replaces Colonel David B. Enyeart, who will be assigned as the Assistant Adjutant General for the Oregon Army National Guard. Enyeart enlisted in the Active Duty Army in 1978, serving in various command positions after graduating from Officer Candidate School in 1985.

Hokanson, a native of Happy Valley, California, who now resides in Keizer, Oregon, holds a BS Degree in Aerospace Engineering from the U.S. Military Academy at West Point, New York; Masters Degrees in International Security and Civil-Military Relations from the Naval Postgraduate School in Monterey, and National Security and Strategic Decision-making from the Naval War College in Newport, Rhode Island.

He is also a graduate of the National Security Fellowship Program at Harvard University's John F. Kennedy School of Government in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

Dan Hokanson boarding a C-130 aircraft headed for Mazur e Sharif in Afghansitan. Photo by: Tim King

While commanding Oregon's Army Aviation Support Facility (AASF) in Salem, he founded the first National Guard MAST (Military Assistance to Safety and Traffic) / MART (Military Air Rescue Team). Under his command, the unit flew close to 100 air rescue and firefighting missions throughout the Pacific Northwest and California.

In July 2005, Hokanson attended the National Security Fellowship Program at Harvard University in Cambridge, Mass., for his Senior Service War College.

In July 2006 he returned to Oregon and deployed with the 41 Infantry Brigade Combat Team to Afghanistan as the Chief of Staff for Combined Joint Task Force Phoenix V. In June 2007 when the Task Force demobilized, Hokanson became the Deputy Brigade Commander of the 42st Brigade Combat Team.

Salem-News.com's Tim King has been interviewing Dan Hokanson for several years in various news stories for KATU Channel-2 in Portland, Tim's former employer, and for Salem-News.com. Tim has also flown with Col. Hokanson while recording news stories in Oregon. The photos of Hokanson accompanying this article were recorded by Tim King while embedded with the 41st Brigade Combat Team in Afghanistan last year, which Hokanson will now command.

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Congratulations Dan! You are an outstanding soldier and a great human being.

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