FOR RELEASE: June 14, 2022
CONTACT: Colorado National Guard Public Affairs, 720-250-1053, ng.co.coarng.list.militarysupport@army.mil
86th Infantry Brigade Combat Team commander from Colorado promotes to brigadier general
CENTENNIAL, Colo. — U.S. Army Col. Joseph Aubrey "Brey" Hopkins, 86th Infantry Brigade Combat Team (Mountain) commander and former deputy executive director, Colorado Department of Military and Veterans Affairs, will promote to the rank of brigadier general June 15, 2022, at 3:30 p.m. at Joint Force Headquarters, Centennial, Colorado, in a ceremony which will include a howitzer salute in his honor.
Hopkins will serve as the deputy G-3/5/7 (plans and operations), U.S. Army Forces Command, headquartered at Fort Bragg, North Carolina.
Hopkins recently returned from deployment supporting U.S. Central Command, U.S. Africa Command, and U.S. European Command as the commander for the 86th IBCT. Colorado’s 1st Battalion, 157th Infantry Regiment (Mountain) was among the units commanded by Hopkins during much of 2021.
Hopkins also served in a civilian capacity as the deputy executive director for the DMVA since Jan. 6, 2020, supporting DMVA Executive Director, The Adjutant General of Colorado, U.S. Army Brig. Gen. Laura Clellan. In this position, he supported military members, veterans, and their families including assisting them with benefits and interments. Hopkins also oversaw the operations of the Colorado Wing of the Civil Air Patrol. In addition to supporting Governor and TAG priorities and initiatives as a state employee, Hopkins continued to serve as a traditional National Guard member in the rank of colonel.
“With more than 30 years of dedicated military service to our communities, state and nation, General Hopkins is a model Colorado Citizen-Soldier,” Clellan said. “His leadership will continue to have impact.”
Hopkins received his Army commission as an infantry officer through the Reserve Officers’ Training Corps at the Citadel Military College of South Carolina in 1989. Following Active Duty-service as an infantry officer in the U.S. Army’s 82nd Airborne Division and 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault), Hopkins separated from Active Duty and served in positions of executive management in the transportation, logistics and energy sectors, including both as vice president of operations and president, until he joined the Colorado National Guard as a dual status technician followed by transition into the Active Guard and Reserve program in 2010.
The DMVA has three divisions. The division of the National Guard serves our communities, state and nation by providing ready forces for domestic operations, homeland defense, and overseas contingency operations. The Division of Veterans Affairs assists military members, veterans, and their families to access benefits and services and is a statewide training resource for Colorado’s network of State and County Veterans Service Officers. The Division of Veterans Affairs also maintains the Veterans Memorial Cemetery of Western Colorado and the Western Region One Source located in Grand Junction. The Colorado Wing of the Civil Air Patrol, an auxiliary of the U.S. Air Force, has three missions: emergency services; aerospace education; cadet programs.