Air Force picks Hobbins for CIO
Lt. Gen. William 'Tom' Hobbins will lead the Office of the Secretary of the Air Force, Chief Warfighting Integration and Chief Information Officer.
The man who said he hoped to head the Air Force’s new information technology organization received his wish.
Maj. Barb Carson, a spokesman for the Air Force, confirmed May 5 in a statement that Lt. Gen. William T. Hobbins would lead the newly created Office of the Secretary of the Air Force, Chief Warfighting Integration and Chief Information Officer. The organization will centralize all of the service's IT policy formulation, execution, resources and workforce governance into a single organization.
Hobbins is currently the Air Force's deputy chief of staff for warfighting integration, which is the service's top warfighting IT official.
His appointment as CIO was widely expected. Soon after the Air Force last December announced plans to create a new IT headquarters, officials said a three-star general would oversee the new office, and Hobbins said that he would like to lead it. The reorganization consolidates the offices of Communications Operations, Chief Information Officer and the Deputy Chief of Staff for Warfighting Integration.
The Air Force will hold a ceremony on May 10, the new office's first day of operation. Hobbins will hold a press conference after the event.
Hobbins entered the Air Force in 1969 after completing Officer Candidate School and holds a bachelor’s of science degree in business finance from the University of Colorado and an MBA from Troy State University in Alabama. He became deputy chief of staff for warfighting integration in 2003.