by Mari Radtke
Army National Guard members and Primghar residents Colt and Hanah (Van Beek) Hofman returned from the middle east on March 12. A huge welcome was quickly arranged by the O’Brien County Veterans Affairs, family and other supporters of military service. A parade of fire trucks and family vehicles joined to welcome home the couple after being gone for nearly a year. People lined the streets. Hanah said, “I really, really like thie coming home celebration It was really, really nice. I like it.” They left for active duty on May 28, 2025. They spent time in Lousiana until departing for their duty station. Colt was stationed at a base in Jordan. Hanah was based 12 miles away at a base in Syria.
The couple met as military personnel and married. They spent their first anniversary at those bases. They described the 12 miles between as desert. There is no development. The road is gravel – ish. It is very desolate. The bases were small. The roads were gravel paths. Buildings were cindy block. Food was served in tents. The housing was described as dorm rooms, about 40 per building.
Hanah entered the military to help with education expense. She is an RN. Her military MOS is 68Whisky, a combat medic. She graduated from nursing school in 2025 an passed her boards on May 27 and left the next day. In her civilian life she is an ICU nurse at Spencer Hospital. While in Syria, her days were filled mostly with training, inventory and drills to keep her skills fresh. She was part of 3 incidents, 2 of which were combat related.
Colt is a 91Bravo. He keeps the vehicles running as a “Wheeled Vehicle Mechanic.” Colt was busy all the time. They fixed what broke the day before. He worked daily with missions every other day. Wheeled vehicle mechanics in today’s military do more than just change tires and spark plugs. The vechicles are very sophisticated. The work is more than mechanical. It is also electronic. Colt’s stateside job is on the Secondary Road Crew for O’Brien County. He joined because it was something that had always been on his mind. “One day I just pulled the trigger on it,” he said about motivation to join.
Neither is interested in serving in fulltime military. Hanah’s tour is up in October 2026. Colt will continue to serve.
They are members of the Army National Guard in Sioux City.