Hubert Allison Allen was born in Independence, IA. He served as a captain in the Iowa National Guard during the Spanish-American War of 1898. By 1914 he had been promoted to Brigadier General and put in command of Iowa's National Guard.

In 1916, during the Mexican Revolution, Pancho Villa staged raids in American territory. President Wilson then sent Pershing's Army into Mexico in pursuit of Villa and ordered the National Guard to police the border. In June of 1916 Iowa sent 4,500 national guardsmen to Texas. The Iowa Brigade, under Gen. Allen's command, consisted of three regiments of infantry, one battalion of artillery, one squadron of cavalry, one company of engineers, sanitary detachments, a field hospital and an ambulance company. They spent nearly a month at Camp Dodge near Des Moines drilling, conditioning, and mustering the men into Federal service. In mid-summer began the movement toward the border. The Iowa troops went into camp amid the brush and cacti near Brownsville, Texas. Eight deaths occurred among the men of the brigade, all the result of accidents.

Allen later joined the Oregon National Guard prior to his retirement.