John Hunter Haltom
Hunter Haltom, Commander United States Navy (CDR USN, ret), was born in Texarkana, Texas. After graduating from Abilene Christian University, he was commissioned in March 1990 from Aviation Officer Candidate School in Pensacola, Florida. He attended flight training at NAS Whiting Field at VT-2 and HT-18, earning his wings on December 6, 1991. Hunter flew over 3,700 hours in the T-34C, TH-57 B/C, H-46D and CH-60S with HC-3, HC-6, HT-8 and HC-8 with four Mediterranean deployments on over 12 different ships.
Hunter served as the Executive Officer at Texas A&M University NROTC Unit. While there, he deployed to Iraq and served as the Brigade Electronic Warfare Officer (EWO) for 4/1 Brigade Combat Team (BCT) and 1/4 BCT at Forward Operating Base (FOB) Falcon from July 2007 to July 2008 and then volunteered for a tour in Afghanistan as the Regional Support Command-Capital Executive Officer (Camp Phoenix) from Nov 2010 to Nov 2011.
Hunter was stationed at USSTRATCOM as a Nuclear Strike Advisor and Regional Advisory Team Lead for Joint Forces Combatant Command Global Strike. For his last tour, Hunter was the Senior Military Representative and an analyst in the Wargaming Branch. Hunter retired 31 March 2018 with over 28 years of honorable service.
Hunter is currently the VP of Hypersonics and Future Force Modernization and the program lead for Conventional / Nuclear Integration at USSTRATCOM. He is married to Brandi Haltom of Pensacola, Florida. They have four children and live in Omaha, Nebraska.
What is your favorite Texarkana memory?
My favorite memories are of the Four States Fair and Rodeo. You’d see all your friends there, win prizes, and eat the best fair food!
Where was your favorite place to eat in Texarkana?
My favorite place to eat was Bryce’s Cafeteria. I’m old enough to remember both the downtown location and Mall Drive. You could count on the food being perfect. The pies and dinner rolls were spot on. Standing in line was a great opportunity to talk to your friends, neighbors, and make new friends, all while smelling the delicious variety of foods.
Where was your favorite place to shop in Texarkana?
It depended on what you were looking for. Dress clothes? Collins and Williams. Jeans? The Levi section at Smith’s. Work clothes? The Western Store.
Were you a Hawk, Leopard, Razorback, or Tiger?
Born and raised a Tiger. If I jumped my back fence in the yard, I was on Texas High Property. The school spirit and friends made are priceless.
How do you describe Texarkana to your friends?
Texarkana is a place where you raise a family, worship God—throw in Smokey and the Bandit, Ross Perot, The Town the Dreaded Sundown, and of course the Fouke Monster all while standing one leg in Texas and one in Arkansas.
Who is someone from Texarkana who impacted your life?
There is not one person who impacted my life. In actuality, there are too many to mention. Swim coaches, baseball and tennis coaches, that one friend who taught me to ride a bike without having to start from a curb, neighbors who tolerated me shooting BB guns throughout the neighborhood (and those who didn’t), friends who built forts with me in the woods behind Central Mall, going mudding behind the skating rink, junior high and high school principals (I was a regular at getting “refocused by way of paddle”), going fishing and duck hunting off of Red River. Seriously, I’d have to write a book to give the proper credit to those who helped me grow up.
What do you love about Texarkana?
I love that I still have family there.
What is your nickname for Texarkana?
T-Town
What do you miss about Texarkana?
I miss driving around and checking out all the Christmas lights, even when it was in the upper 60s and you had to mow the yard prior to setting them up.
TXK Roots is Texarkana Magazine’s forum to highlight and honor Texarkana natives who have accomplished big things in the world. These folks may have relocated, but they took the values, education, work ethic and creativity instilled in them by growing up in this unique border city and used these qualities to blaze extraordinary trails. We asked them to share their thoughts about growing up here. No matter how far from Texarkana they may find themselves, we will always consider them our neighbors and we are proud to claim them as forever members of our extended Texarkana community. After all, “everyone is famous in their hometown!”
