COL Hughes was commissioned in Field Artillery from the University of Texas at Arlington in 1983.  His initial assignment was in the 8h Infantry Division Artillery in West Germany, where he served in numerous battalion level assignments.  Upon return to CONUS he attended the Field Artillery Officer Advance Course and remained at Fort Sill to instruct Gunnery and the TACFIRE Officers course. He commanded C Battery, 1st- 17th FA (155mm, Self Propelled) in III Corps Artillery.  After command, he was assigned as the Fire Direction Officer of the 75th FA Brigade, XVIII Airborne Corps and VII Corps for Operations Desert Shield and Storm.

Following Desert Storm, he attended the Command and General Staff College at Fort Leavenworth.  He was then assigned in numerous acquisition positions including as a Communications Systems Engineer on the MILSTAR Satellite Program, Deputy System Engineer on the PATRIOT Missile Project, APM Deep Strike for the Project Office, Field Artillery Tactical Data Systems, and as Product Director of the Balkan Digitization and Blue Force Tracking, Bosnia-Herzegovina.

In June 2000, he was assigned as the Product Manager for Fire Support (AFATDS), at Fort Monmouth, NJ.  During his tenure, he led the product through the two Army Digital Capstone Exercises, two operational tests, and a deployment to Kuwait, Iraq and Afghanistan in support of AFATDS. He was also dual-hatted as the Deputy Chief of Staff for Operations for PEO C3T for Operations Enduring and Iraqi Freedom.

COL Hughes attended the Industrial College of the Armed Forces in 2003.  Upon graduation, he was assigned to the USD (AT&L) staff as the Deputy for Ballistic Missile Defense. COL Hughes assumed the charter for the JTRS Handheld, Manpack, and Small Form Fit project in 2005 and assumed the charter for the JTRS Ground Domain Program in 2006. COL Hughes was then assigned as the Deputy PEO for Enterprise Information Systems in September 2009. He is currently assigned as the Director of Systems Integration, PEO-I.

COL Hughes’ awards include the Defense Superior Service Medal, the Legion of Merit, the Bronze Star, and the Meritorious Service Medal. He has Masters Degrees in Business, Information Systems, and National Resource Strategies. 
 
COL Hughes is a native of Pantego, TX.