Captain Kavon Hakimzadeh
Commander of the USS Harry S. Truman

Captain Kavon “Hak” Hakimzadeh enlisted from Petal, Mississippi in January 1987 and was selected for an NROTC scholarship in 1988. He graduated from Carnegie Mellon University with a degree in Electrical Engineering and was commissioned in May 1992.

After designation as an E-2 Hawkeye Naval Flight Officer, Captain Hakimzadeh joined the Tigertails of VAW-125 for his initial sea tour. Additional sea duty assignments include Carrier Group EIGHT as Flag Lieutenant, VAW-123 Screwtops as a department head, VAW-126 Seahawks as Executive and Commanding Officer, USS JOHN C. STENNIS (CVN 74) as Executive Officer and USS MOUNT WHITNEY (LCC 20) as Commanding Officer. He has completed eight operational deployments on seven different ships.

He served ashore with the VAW-120 Greyhawks as a FRS instructor, as a student at the Naval War College, and duty under instruction as an Arthur S. Moreau fellow. Additionally, he has served in four Pentagon assignments including the Joint Staff (J 3) readiness division, SOUTHCOM Washington field office, OPNAV N00X/N9I as a strike warfare analyst and assessment branch head, and most recently as Executive Assistant to the OPNAV Director Air Warfare (N98).

Captain Hakimzadeh holds Masters Degrees from Old Dominion University, the Naval War College and the Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies. He is also a Massachusetts Institute of Technology Seminar XXI fellow.

Captain Hakimzadeh has accumulated over 3,100 flight hours and 815 carrier arrested landings. His decorations include the Legion of Merit, Bronze Star, and Defense Meritorious Service Medal among other personal and unit awards.

He reported aboard USS HARRY S. TRUMAN (CVN 75) in June 2019.