A Life in A Public Service

As adjutant general of the Hawai‘i Department of Defense, Maj. Gen. Stephen Logan ’89 acknowledges a life of public service isn’t easy—or especially lucrative. But giving back to the community and looking for ways to make things better, he says, really is its own reward.

“My message to students is: Stick with it. You just don’t know where it’s going to take you,” he said.

Logan’s career certainly has been full of twists and turns. He was a Honolulu Police Department (HPD) helicopter pilot and military aviator. He deployed as a deputy commander to Afghanistan. During the pandemic, he lived for months in the Hawai‘i National Guard’s headquarters in Diamond Head. And when fames tore through Lahaina, he led a joint task force to aid in the response efforts.

All that happened before Logan took on one of the toughest jobs in Hawai‘i state government—overseeing the training and readiness of the Hawai‘i Army and Air National Guards as state adjutant general, a role he assumed in October 2024. At a moment’s notice, the Guard must be ready to assist with everything from natural disasters at home to conflicts abroad.

Logan, 61, said his journey to being named state adjutant general was a circuitous one.

It began right after he graduated from high school on O‘ahu and joined the military. When he returned, he enrolled in the police cadet program and started what would become a long career with HPD. About the same time, he applied to Chaminade University and started taking night courses as he was working during the day. Logan says he was grateful for the flexibility.

He studied Criminal Justice and says one of the things he enjoyed most about Chaminade was learning from experienced leaders in their felds and being encouraged to apply his skills in real-world situations. “It gives you the theory and then the practice,” Logan said.

For example, Logan added, his professors included a retired Circuit Court judge, high-ranking police officers and a civil litigation attorney. Those experts gave him a fuller picture of the criminal justice system that would help him as a police officer and military leader.

Logan comes from a family of public servants. His grandfather served as a police offcer in New York City. His father was in the Navy and the Army. And his two brothers are also veterans. In fact, brother Arthur Logan was previously the state adjutant general and is now Honolulu’s police chief.

“My parents were steeped in public service and giving back,” Stephen Logan said, adding he chose military service and law enforcement because he wanted the chance to help others. “There’s certain things on a regular workday where you can really help someone out,” he said.

“I used to tell my subordinates: When you take off your uniform, you can think that ‘I served a greater good.’ There’s simply no monetary value you can put to that. You can be proud of yourself.”

In the National Guard, Logan trained as a helicopter pilot and later became a test pilot. Later, at the Honolulu Police Department, he would fy HPD’s helicopter to maintain his fight certifications.

Over his years at the agency, Logan also climbed the ranks—and thought he would retire there.

But then a “dream job” opened up at the Hawai‘i National Guard—as state Army aviation officer—and Logan jumped at the opportunity. He held the position for more than a decade, overseeing a massive aviation program amid a “revolving door” of Middle East deployments.

At the Hawai‘i Army National Guard, and later, at the State Department of Defense, Logan continued to embrace new challenges. In 2019, he was named deputy adjutant general, a role in which he helped the state respond to some of the biggest crises Hawai‘i has ever seen, from the COVID pandemic to the deadly wildfres that tore through historic Lahaina town.

After the fres, Logan traveled to Maui to help oversee the National Guard’s response. Guard members augmented FEMA recovery teams, assisted with relief efforts, and established a security zone. Logan said many of those who responded had just wrapped up an exhaustive training exercise. When he went to visit them, they’d say, “There’s no way I could stay home.”

“That’s what really swells my heart,” he said.

As state adjutant general, Logan also serves as director of the Hawai‘i Emergency Management Agency. He said while the Lahaina disaster was a tragic wake-up call about the growing dangers of wildfres in a warming world, the state is more prepared now to respond to fast-moving blazes.

“The more we do now, the more responsive and effective we’re going to be later on,” Logan said, adding one of the best resources in the preparedness fight is human capital—a conscientious and talented workforce of people committed to serve. His advice to young people considering their future careers: “A life of public service is rewarding. You can give back—and that’s something.”