Some of his classmates also became general officers in the Marine Corps: Francis H. Brink, Lionel C. Goodeau, Harold D. Harris, John N. Hart or James Snedeker.

Hogaboom took part in the jungle patrols against hostile bandits under Augusto César Sandino and later served as an instructor with Nicaraguan Constabulary, Guardia Nacional.

[1][2] Following his return stateside in early 1930, he served at Marine Corps Base San Diego at the Recruit Depot and later completed the Sea School.

Hogaboom then joined the Marine detachment aboard the cruiser USS Chicago and took part in the gunnery exercises preliminary to Fleet Problem XIII off the California coast.

[1][2] He was stationed at Shanghai International Settlement under the command of Colonel Joseph C. Fegan and participated in the guard duties during a period of tensions between China and Japan.

[1][2] During his service at Quantico, commanding general of the Marine Corps Base, Major General Holland Smith, noticed the Hogaboom's qualities as staff officer and brilliant instructor and when he received orders to assume command of Amphibious Corps, Pacific Fleet in San Diego, he requested Hogaboom to be assign to his staff.

[2][5] Hogaboom was promoted to lieutenant colonel and ordered to San Diego in September 1942 for duty on the staff of Amphibious Corps, Pacific Fleet under Major General Holland Smith.

He was appointed assistant operations officer (G-3) and was put in charge of the amphibious training of Army 7th Infantry Division at Fort Ord, California.

[1][2][5] In November 1943, Commander of Fifth Amphibious Force, Rear Admiral Richmond K. Turner, requested a more experienced Marine officer to be assigned to his staff.

Hogaboom received orders from the commandant, Alexander Vandegrift, to form and head the committee of the academic board, which conducted research on the desired characteristics for an assault transport helicopter.

Accordingly, it is considered more realistic to approach the problem in increments, establishing initially the characteristics for a purely assault conveyance...."'[8] His reports were forwarded to the Deputy Chief of Naval Operations for Air, Vice Admiral Donald B. Duncan, who distributed it through the command structure of the navy.

He was subsequently appointed Marine Corps liaison officer in the Office of the Chief of Naval Operations under Admiral William M. Fechteler and remained in that capacity until July 1952, when he was transferred to Camp Lejeune, North Carolina for duty as assistant division commander, 2nd Marine Division under future commandant Randolph M. Pate.

[1][7] Upon arrival to the United States in January 1955, Hogaboom was ordered to the Headquarters Marine Corps, where he assumed duty as deputy chief of staff for plans.

Hogaboom selected 16 other high-ranking officers (among them were brigadier generals Ronald D. Salmon and Edward C. Dyer or Colonels Odell M. Conoley, Frederick P. Henderson, Lewis W. Walt, Norman J. Anderson, William K. Jones or Keith B. McCutcheon) and conducted a thorough and comprehensive study of the entire Fleet Marine Force (FMF), including aviation, with the purpose of making recommendations for the optimum organization, composition, and equipment of the FMF.