Staff Sergeant Hobson’s U.S. Army Career
Ken joined the Army in July 1989 and completed Basic Combat Training and Combat Engineer Training at Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri. He then joined the 54th Engineer Battalion in Wildfleken, Germany in 1989 and served in the Persian Gulf during the Persian Gulf War. From February 1992 to May 1993, he served with the 325th Engineer Battalion (Airborne), 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault) at Fort Campbell, Kentucky.
Staff Sergeant Hobson attended the Arabic Basic Course at the Defense Language Institute Foreign Language Center between June 1993 and August 1994. While there, he met Specialist Deborah Murchison, the love of his life. They married in 1994. He then attended Interrogator and Strategic Debriefer training at Fort Huachuca, Arizona.
In March 1995, he joined the 202d Military Intelligence Battalion, 513th Military Intelligence Brigade at Fort Gordon, Georgia. After volunteering for attaché training, he attended and graduated from the Defense Intelligence Agency’s (DIA) Attaché Staff Operations Course. In April 1998, he became an Operations NCO for the U.S. Army Element Defense Attaché Office in Nairobi, Kenya.
On August 7, 1998, Staff Sergeant Hobson made the supreme sacrifice in service to the nation, when he was killed along with 247 others when terrorists bombed the U.S. Embassy in Nairobi, Kenya. The U.S. Army granted him a posthumous promotion to Staff Sergeant in recognition of his dedicated and courageous service.
Staff Sergeant Hobson’s awards and decorations include the Legion of Merit; the Purple Heart; Defense Meritorious Service Medal; Army Commendation Medal; Army Achievement Medal; Good Conduct Medal (2d award); Southwest Asia Service Medal (with Bronze Star); Kuwait Liberation Medal; Saudi Arabian Kuwait Liberation Medal; and the Air Assault Badge.