Iranian American Commander of the US Navy Aircraft Carrier May Be Deployed to Persian Gulf
Independent Aggregator of Iran-related News/Events, Kodoom.com:
Iranian-American Navy Captain Kavon Hakimzadeh took command of the USS Harry S. Truman aircraft carrier in July, achieving a goal he set for himself 30 years earlier as the son of an immigrant after he first laid eyes on an aircraft carrier in Norfolk, Virginia.
Hakimzadeh (pronounced Ha-KEEM-za-day) was born in Texas to an American mother and an Iranian father, but moved to Iran when he was still a baby. He fondly remembers his childhood there during the 1970s. He attended an international school where they spoke Farsi and English. It was, as Hakimzadeh says, an "idyllic" childhood which quickly changed during the Islamic Revolution in 1979. He and his family were forced to flee to America when he was 11.
Hakimzadeh enlisted in the U.S. Navy from Petal, Mississippi in January 1987. He completed Naval Nuclear Power School in Orlando, FL before earning an NROTC scholarship in 1988. He graduated from Carnegie Mellon University with a degree in Electrical Engineering and was commissioned in May 1992.
Hakimzadeh holds Masters Degrees from Old Dominion University, the Naval War College and the Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies. He is a Joint Qualified Officer and has completed the Aviation Nuclear Officer training pipeline. Hakimzadeh, whose call sign is "Hak," spent much of his career as an E-2 Hawkeye flight officer based in Norfolk. He has accumulated over 3,100 flight hours and flown in combat zones in Iraq and Afghanistan and has completed eight operational deployments on seven different ships, earning the Bronze Star and Legion of Merit.
His most recent assignment was as Executive Officer of USS John C. Stennis (CVN 74) from October 2014 to August 2016.
While he knows his last Persian name is uncommon in the United States, in some ways it helps serve as an icebreaker when he's deployed in the Middle East working with U.S allies or during port visits. Hakimzadeh still speaks a little Farsi and is not ashamed of his Iranian and immigration heritage:
"I love to tell people that it's a testament to our merit-based Navy that a kid at 19, 20 years old can look at these things and go, 'You know what? I want to command those one day.' And it's certainly a testament to the United States of America that a guy named Kavon Hakimzadeh can do that."
Hakimzadeh is now preparing for the possibility that he could be called to return to the Middle East and possibly Persian Gulf near his father's homeland, Iran.
Related to Iranian Americans:
- Leading Causes of Death in America and Iran (1)
- Watch IRAN and USA Live in Chicago: Volleyball Nations League Finals Schedule
- Will Any Iranian Americans Attend The 2019 Summer Camp for Billionaires?
- Maz, US Special Ops Chief and Congressman Share Same Opinion About Trump's Drumbeat of War Against Iran
- Founder of First Iranian Kabob House Chain in America Dies of Heart Attack
- The Worldwide Release of Polaris, Starring Bahram Radan and Alicja Bachleda
- A US-Iran War Can Start in Persian Gulf by A Third Party, According to Libertarian Congressman (Video)
- World Premiere by Iranian-American Composer, Richard Danielpour, Performed at The Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts
- What is Up with Britney Spears, Iranian American Boyfriend, and FREE BRITNEY Controversy
- Team led by Iranian Professor in Florida Develops Sensors to Manage Parkinson's
- Niosha Plans to Take The Story of Nowruz to the Palace of Fine Arts in San Francisco
- Video: Rezaian Discusses Surviving Solitary Prison in Iran, Yet He Warns Against Sanctions and Visa Bans
- How to Send Relief for Iran Flood Victims: Charities with OFAC license
- Library of Congress Publishes Rare Manuscripts of Persian Literary Masterpieces
- Onions, Potato, EBay, Uber: The Paradox of Iranian Economy
Related to Persian gulf:
- A US-Iran War Can Start in Persian Gulf by A Third Party, According to Libertarian Congressman (Video)
- Zarif Uncensored: Candid Talk about Caspian Sea, Nuclear Deal and Chinese Rights in Persian Gulf
- Trump's Grand Bargain with Putin over Iran, according to The New Yorker
- Video: Saudi Arabia pays Iranian-American brothers to lose with Iranian flag in WWE charade!
- In Pictures: Travel Destinations in Iran
- Iranian Theaters Screen Animated Assault on US Navy (video)
- In Pictures: Tradtional Camel's back Wedding in Iran's Gheshm Island
- U.S. Navy's Nitze destroyer approached by Iranian boats (video)
- Detention and interview of US Sailors, Video Footage from Iranian TV
- Saudis snubbed both US and Iran, Experts discuss on Charlie Rose (Video)
- Saudi Arabian posts in Iran attacked after Shia cleric hanged (videos)
- Upclose with ISIL, A Vice documentary video
- US experts: Iran closer to US interests than Saudi, Pakistan, Egypt
- Emirates jails American for satirical video!
- US Navy's laser weapons in Persian Gulf (video)
