The incident commander who led the state's overall response to the COVID-19 pandemic and the Maui wildfires will retire in the fall.
Maj. Gen. Kenneth Hara will resign as state adjutant general in October. He is also the commander of the National Guard and the head of the Hawaiʻi Emergency Management Agency.
Hara will then retire from the military on Nov. 1 after nearly 40 years of service.
Hara was appointed as state adjutant general in December 2019. He was the state's overall incident commander from 2020-2023 during the COVID-19 pandemic response.
He was again tapped as the state's incident commander in response to the Maui wildfires. Prior to his appointment, Hara also served on combat deployments to Iraq, Kuwait and Afghanistan.
Gov. Josh Green has picked Brig. Gen. Stephen Logan as the next adjutant general.
Logan has been the state deputy adjutant general since 2019 and the commander of the Hawaiʻi Army National Guard since 2021. He is a combat veteran who has served in Afghanistan.
"I am grateful and proud to have served with the extraordinary members of the state of Hawaiʻi, Department of Defense, who accomplished every assigned state and federal mission during extremely challenging times,” Hara said in a statement. “And I have full faith and confidence in Brig. Gen. Steve Logan and know that he will successfully lead the department into the future.”
Logan’s appointment requires state Senate confirmation.
