A state senator is doing double duty as he prepares to deploy overseas. Steve Hobbs represents Lake Stevens in Olympia but he'll soon be representing the U.S. as part of a NATO alliance in an increasingly unstable part of the world.
Hobbs packed his bags Monday morning, bound for the Baltics on Tuesday.
He found out less than a week ago he is deploying to Estonia to train with NATO allies. Hobbs has been in the Army for over 30 years, with tours in both Iraq and Kosovo. He's heading to Estonia with the National Guard as an infantry battalion operations officer to strengthen our alliances in a part of the world on edge because of Russian aggression.
"You can look on a map. Estonia is right next to Russia. Do they have anxiety? I'm sure they have lots of anxiety, especially when they saw what happened to the Ukraine," said Hobbs.
In 2014, Russia made several military incursions into Ukrainian territory and annexed the Ukrainian territory of Crimea, using the position to support Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.
Hobbs has served in the state senate for 12 years.
He's heading overseas just as he's entering a political battle here at home -- a re-election campaign against two challengers.
More important to him, though, is time away from his family. He will miss Mother's Day this year and hasn't been able to spend an anniversary with his wife since 2006.
The senator's son is now in the guard, as well, following in his father's bootsteps. He is likely to face his first deployment in the next two years.
"I'm proud of him, but now, I'm seeing it from the parent's side, like my mom and dad saw it," said Hobbs. "I'm a little nervous that he's going to be deployed."
Sen. Hobbs is expected to be deployed in Estonia for at least a few weeks.
