New command chief warrant officer takes over in Minnesota

Photo By Sgt. 1st Class Ben Houtkooper | Members of the Minnesota National Guard gathered to mark the change of responsibility between the state’s outgoing Command Chief Warrant Officer, Chief Warrant Officer 5 Peter Panos and the incoming Chief Warrant Officer 4 Kip Knudson July 1, 2015.  

ST. PAUL, MN, UNITED STATES

07.01.2015

Story by Sgt. 1st Class Ben Houtkooper  

Minnesota National Guard

SAINT PAUL, Minn. - Members of the Minnesota National Guard gathered to mark the change of responsibility between the state’s outgoing Command Chief Warrant Officer, Chief Warrant Officer 5 Peter Panos and the incoming Chief Warrant Officer 4 Kip Knudson July 1, 2015.

Knudson, who has served in a variety of positions across the guard during his 37-year-long career, takes over as Panos accepts responsibility as the command chief warrant officer of the Army National Guard.

“This day would not be possible if not for the people, that supported, inspired, mentored and saw the potential in me,” said Knudson during the event. “Today is not a tribute to my accomplishments but to the individuals who impacted my life and career.”

Knudson also acknowledged the upcoming challenges facing Minnesota’s warrant officer cohort including the increasing demand in both the Information Technology (IT) and Military Intelligence (MI) fields.

“There are [other positions] open in logistics, aviation, ordinance corp, but the two biggest ones are going to be MI, which is hard to fill because of the lack of feeder military occupational specialties and Cyber, which is growing.”

Knudson said they continue to seek experienced and qualified noncommissioned officers from across the force to fill these critical positions.

“This is a great responsibility,” said Knudson. “It’s going to be one of the most challenging and hopefully one of the most rewarding assignments in my military career.”

• Date Taken: 07.01.2015
• Date Posted: 07.13.2015 16:26
• Story ID: 169906
• Location: ST. PAUL, MN, US
• Hometown: FOREST LAKE, MN, US