Calvin Jackson Hobson III (born March 30, 1945) is an American politician in the state of

Oklahoma Oklahoma (; Choctaw language, Choctaw: ; chr, ᎣᎧᎳᎰᎹ, ''Okalahoma'' ) is a U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States, bordered by Texas on the south and west, Kansas on the nor ...

Early life, family, and education

Hobson was born in 1945 in

Tucson, Arizona , "(at the) base of the black ill , nicknames = "The Old Pueblo", "Optics Valley", "America's biggest small town" , image_map = , mapsize = 260px , map_caption = Interactive map ...

as the eldest son of Wardena and Calvin Jackson Hobson II, his parents having met while attending the

University of Oklahoma The University of Oklahoma (OU) is a Public university, public research university in Norman, Oklahoma. Founded in 1890, it had existed in Oklahoma Territory near Indian Territory for 17 years before the two Territories became the state of Oklahom ...

. Hobson's father served in the

United States Army Air Corps The United States Army Air Corps (USAAC) was the aerial warfare service component of the United States Army between 1926 and 1941. After World War I, as early aviation became an increasingly important part of modern warfare, a philosophical r ...

training pilots during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...

. Returning to Oklahoma, the Hobson family settled on a family farm in Wayne, OK where his father entered the oil and gas industry. The family later moved to Lexington, OK where Hobson graduated high school. Cal Hobson attended the

and graduated with a degree in education. He later went on to study political science in graduate school at the

. He married Mary E. Jernigan and together they had one son, Jack.

Military career

Upon graduation in 1969, Hobson received his officers commission into the

United States Air Force The United States Air Force (USAF) is the air service branch of the United States Armed Forces, and is one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. Originally created on 1 August 1907, as a part of the United States Army Signal ...

and served in active duty capacity from 1969 - 1976 in the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...

Greece Greece,, or , romanized: ', officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the southern tip of the Balkans, and is located at the crossroads of Europe, Asia, and Africa. Greece shares land borders with ...

and at

the Pentagon The Pentagon is the headquarters building of the United States Department of Defense. It was constructed on an accelerated schedule during World War II. As a symbol of the U.S. military, the phrase ''The Pentagon'' is often used as a metony ...

Washington, DC ) , image_skyline = , image_caption = Clockwise from top left: the Washington Monument and Lincoln Memorial on the National Mall, United States Capitol, Logan Circle, Jefferson Memorial, White House, Adams Morgan ...

. While serving in the

Oklahoma National Guard The Oklahoma National Guard, a division of the Oklahoma Military Department, is the component of the United States National Guard in the U.S. state of Oklahoma. It comprises both Army (OKARNG) and Air (OKANG) National Guard components. The Governor ...

, Hobson was deployed abroad in 1989, during the

United States invasion of Panama The United States invasion of Panama, codenamed Operation Just Cause, lasted over a month between mid-December 1989 and late January 1990. It occurred during the administration of President George H. W. Bush and ten years after the Torrijos– ...

resulting in the ouster of General

Manuel Noriega Manuel Antonio Noriega Moreno (; February 11, 1934 – May 29, 2017) was a Panamanian dictator, politician and military officer who was the ''de facto'' List of heads of state of Panama, ruler of Panama from 1983 to 1989. An authoritaria ...

. Later, Hobson attended and graduated from the United States

Air War College The Air War College (AWC) is the senior Professional Military Education (PME) school of the U.S. Air Force. A part of the United States Air Force's Air University, AWC emphasizes the employment of air, space, and cyberspace in joint operation ...

receiving his graduate diploma. After thirty years of service in both active duty and reserve capacity, Hobson retired in 1999 at the rank of

colonel (United States) The colonel () in the United States Army, Marine Corps, Air Force and Space Force, is the most senior field-grade military officer rank, immediately above the rank of lieutenant colonel and just below the rank of brigadier general. Colonel ...

. Before his retirement, Col. Hobson served at

Tinker Air Force Base Tinker Air Force Base is a major United States Air Force base, with tenant U.S. Navy and other Department of Defense missions, located in Oklahoma County, Oklahoma, surrounded by Del City, Oklahoma City, and Midwest City. The base, origina ...

and in the administration of National Guard Commander Major General Rita Aragon.

Political career

Having returned to Oklahoma, Hobson was elected the Mayor of Lexington, OK in 1976. Hobson's full political career stretched for thirty years having first served in the

Oklahoma House of Representatives The Oklahoma House of Representatives is the lower house of the legislature of the U.S. state of Oklahoma. Its members introduce and vote on bills and resolutions, provide legislative oversight for state agencies, and help to craft the state's b ...

from 1978 to 1990. During his career in the Oklahoma House of Representatives, Hobson served as Chairman of the House appropriations subcommittee on public safety and later was appointed Chairman of the House appropriations full committee. In 1990, he was elected to the

Oklahoma State Senate The Oklahoma Senate is the upper house of the two houses of the Legislature of Oklahoma, the other being the Oklahoma House of Representatives. The total number of senators is set at 48 by the Oklahoma Constitution.Lieutenant Governor of Oklahoma The lieutenant governor of Oklahoma is the second-highest executive official of the state government of Oklahoma. As first in the gubernatorial line of succession, the lieutenant governor becomes the new governor of Oklahoma upon the death, resi ...

, ultimately losing the Democratic primary to

Jari Askins Jari Askins (born April 27, 1953) is an American judge, lawyer and Democratic politician from the US state of Oklahoma. She was the 15th lieutenant governor of Oklahoma, being the second woman and the first female Democratic Party member to hol ...

. Areas of legislative concern for Hobson were higher education funding, prison reform and mental health services. During his political career, Cal was instrumental in securing funding for several key facilities associated with the

, notably the

Sam Noble Oklahoma Museum of Natural History Sam, SAM or variants may refer to: Places * Sam, Benin * Sam, Boulkiemdé, Burkina Faso * Sam, Bourzanga, Burkina Faso * Sam, Kongoussi, Burkina Faso * Sam, Iran * Sam, Teton County, Idaho, United States, a populated place People and fictio ...

, the OU

National Weather Center The National Weather Center (NWC), on the campus of the University of Oklahoma, is a confederation of federal, state, and academic organizations that work together to better understand events that take place in Earth's atmosphere over a wide range ...

, the Sarkeys Energy Center, and a significant expansion of the

Fred Jones Jr. Museum of Art The Fred Jones Jr. Museum of Art is an art museum on the University of Oklahoma campus in Norman, Oklahoma. Overview The University of Oklahoma’s Fred Jones Jr. Museum of Art holds over 20,000 objects in its permanent collection. The museum c ...

Later life

After retirement from politics, Hobson worked at the

University of Oklahoma College of Liberal Studies The University of Oklahoma College of Liberal Studies (CLS) is an accredited, academic division of the University of Oklahoma (OU) in Norman, Oklahoma. As the first interdisciplinary Liberal Studies degree program in the country, the college was e ...

where he still regularly teaches courses on Oklahoma political history. Hobson continues to write regularly for several newspapers including

The Norman Transcript ''The Norman Transcript'' is a daily newspaper published in Norman, Oklahoma, United States, covering Cleveland and McClain counties, in the southern suburbs of Oklahoma City. It is owned by Community Newspaper Holdings Inc. The newspaper is the ...

and The Oklahoma Observer. Cal Hobson resides in

Lexington, Oklahoma Lexington is a city in Cleveland County, Oklahoma, United States. The city population was 2,152 at the 2010 census. Geography Lexington is located in southern Cleveland County at . It is bordered on the west by the Canadian River, which forms the ...

on a fifth generation-owned family farm, having come into the family possession during the

Oklahoma land rush of 1889 The Oklahoma Land Rush of 1889 was the first land run into the Unassigned Lands of former Indian Territory, which had earlier been assigned to the Creek and Seminole peoples. The area that was opened to settlement included all or part of Canadi ...

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hobson, Cal 1945 births Living people Farmers from Oklahoma Democratic Party Oklahoma state senators 20th-century Members of the Oklahoma House of Representatives Politicians from Tucson, Arizona Democratic Party members of the Oklahoma House of Representatives