Major General James A. Hoyer
The Adjutant General
State of West Virginia
JENNIFER JETT PREZKOP
Photo by West Virginia National Guard.
MAJOR GENERAL JIM HOYER’S UNIFORM may be his most
recognizable attribute, but those who have talked to him one on
one know him more for his unwavering love for West Virginia
and his self-appointed mission to make the Mountain State
the center of the universe. He isn’t bashful about his ambitions
for his home state, and the opportunities to bring that goal to
fruition are never in short supply.
“I’ve been given a lot of flexibility to use the Guard to make
West Virginia a better place,” he says. “The guy who pointed
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me down this path—Major General Allen Tackett—had a
vision that the Guard in West Virginia was going to be more
than just a military organization, and I think we have taken
that to the next level.”
Hoyer began down this career path long before he met
Tackett, though. His family legacy is one of military service. His
grandfathers, father and uncles were all veterans. Growing up
in Charleston, he and his six siblings lived down the street from
these heroes, continually exposed to their examples of service.