By Jennifer Jett
On February 1, 2011, a new chapter in the story of the West Virginia National Guard began when Maj. Gen. James Hoyer was named Adjutant General of the West Virginia Joint Forces Headquarters. The transition from Maj. Gen. Allen Tackett, a long-time military leader beloved by the state, to Hoyer, Tackett’s right-hand man since 1997, was seamless as Hoyer assumed responsibility for the more than 6,000 soldiers and airmen of the Mountain State.
Groomed for this position by his predecessor, Hoyer was appointed by Governor Earl Ray Tomblin to continue the vision for and success of the West Virginia National Guard that began with Tackett. Together, Hoyer and Tackett created the concept of Fort West Virginia, a vision to solve national security gaps through the dedication, excellence in service and problem-solving skills of the West Virginia National Guard while creating a brighter future for West Virginians and their families.
Recently, West Virginia Executive magazine sat down with Hoyer to discuss his new position, the future of Fort West Virginia and his goals for the West Virginia National Guard. What he shared with us instead was a passionate Mountaineer’s entrepreneurial vision to utilize the best, brightest and bravest of West Virginia to solve national security problems while creating jobs at home and better preparing soldiers all across the United States.
WVE: What influenced you to make the military a life-long career choice?
MGH: My grandfathers, uncles and father were war veterans and I grew up listening to the war stories they used to tell. One of the stories that I like to share with my young soldiers is that when my grandmother died at the age of 89, she was still cleaning off and reusing aluminum foil because back then that was the difference in whether or not you made another P-51 Mustang for the war effort—you saved and you recycled.
WVE: Tell us about the path from ROTC at Morris Harvey College to West Virginia’s Office of the Adjutant General.
MGH: In 1985, I was serving in the West Virginia National Guard and working on a graduate degree when I got a call from Bill Wooten, a member of the Guard and the West Virginia Legislature, who offered me a job. When I told him I wanted to stay and finish my degree, he told me I could go to school part-time, that I really needed to take this job. At the age of 23, I accepted the position as assistant to the Speaker of the West Virginia House of Delegates, and he was right—in that year, probably the two most significant things in my life happened to me. I met my wife, who was a payroll clerk for the House of Delegates, and I met Gen. Allen Tackett, who was lobbying for issues for the National Guard.
At the end of the legislative session, Gen. Tackett came in to thank me for helping him with some of those issues. He started to walk away and then turned back around and said, “Oh, by the way, someday I’m going to be the adjutant general and you’re going to work for me full-time.”
WVE: What it is about West Virginia that has inspired you to take on such an important leadership role for the state?
MGH: When Gen. Tackett became adjutant general in 1995, we sat down and talked about some of the unique things that were happening. The first attack on the World Trade Center was in 1993 and in 1995 we had the sarin gas attack on the subway in Tokyo. We had gone through Desert Storm and Desert Shield, and no one was really going to take the United States on in a traditional conventional war approach. We were looking at those outside influences, and both of us had a strong passion about the fact that while West Virginia doesn’t have a full-time military base, it has one of the highest percentages per capita of veteran service. When I joined the Guard, if you wanted to do something that was national in scope for national defense or homeland security, you had to leave the state to do it, and he and I agreed that that wasn’t right. We were also tired of hearing that West Virginia was last at everything. We knew we could use the Guard to turn things around and demonstrate that West Virginia can be number one. The concept of Fort West Virginia that we came up with allows us to create opportunities for men and women in this state to live here and raise their families while still doing a national mission.
We look at the gaps in national security and homeland security and find opportunities for West Virginia to provide solutions to those gaps that are cost-effective, timely and of high quality. If you look at the current dynamics where the United States has this security threat that wants to overextend us across the world and these tremendous budget issues, and if you take into consideration that not only do we have to reduce cost but actually increase capability, you can see that the Fort West Virginia concept is absolutely right on target, particularly today. Now you’ve got the West Virginia National Guard, which is one of the most deployed units in the country, doing its traditional war fighting mission, and then you’ve got a West Virginia Guard that has full-time employees working for the Department of Homeland Security and hosting the Department of State at its facilities here in West Virginia.
In June and July, the West Virginia Guard had soldiers deployed in Afghanistan, Kuwait and Africa; an airbase in Martinsburg sending three C-5s, the largest strategic airlifters in military inventory, into some theater of operation every week; a C-130 unit that just redeployed to South America; soldiers away, meeting their annual training requirements and folks working with the Transportation Security Administration so that we can take on some new projects. We just hosted the Marine Corps at Camp Dawson, we’re setting up for some activities for the Navy at the airbase here in Charleston, we’ve got the Air Force coming to the Center for National Response (CNR) and we’ve got the Army training on the mine-resistant vehicles, the MRAPs, at the CNR as well. I’ve covered all the services, three federal agencies and all the deployment needs. On top of those, I have folks out there supporting the Special Olympics and we’re ready at any minute if a flood occurs. If you look at that in the context of the vision of Fort West Virginia and our goal to take the Guard and create opportunities, we’re doing it.
WVE: What was your reaction when you found out that you were going to become the next adjutant general for West Virginia?
MGH: It’s a pretty humbling experience. Gen. Tackett had given me the opportunity over a number of years to be groomed and mentored for this position. To have Gov. Tomblin tell me that I’m the guy to carry this on and make this go is pretty significant.
I’m lucky compared to some of my colleagues who are adjutant generals in that as far as West Virginia’s governor, Legislature, congressional delegation and people go, there’s no better support mechanism. There’s no other state that supports its Guard the way this state supports its Guard and that’s what allows us to do what we do.
WVE: As Gen. Tackett passed the torch off to you, was there any one piece of advice that he offered that stands out in your mind?
MGH: There were things that he engrained in me over the years that I have now turned into the three principles that we go by. The first is to treat everybody in this organization as if they are part of your family. The second is to always be focused on being citizen soldiers at our best, and that means always being ready to do the missions that we’re required to do. The last thing—and I think the thing that’s pushing us and keeping us in the forefront of being number one—is to manage challenges and turn the ones we can into opportunities.
WVE: Tell me about your day-to-day responsibilities and what your role as adjutant general involves.
MGH: Every day is different and unique. It might mean being in Kuwait or somewhere else overseas to visit with soldiers and airmen; a conference call with General McKinley, the four-star chief of the Guard Bureau; dealing with our Legislature and congressional delegation; keeping the governor up to date because he is the commander and chief of the National Guard or being a parade marshal at the South Charleston parade. It runs the full spectrum.
WVE: What are the greatest challenges you expect to face while serving in this capacity?
MGH: For the last 10 years, there has been a significant amount of money put into the Department of Defense, and we have a generation in the Guard that has grown up with not having to manage money because there was always money coming in. Now we’re in a position as a nation where the threat’s still there but now we’ve got budget issues and we have to do more with less. I think the biggest challenge for us is making sure that that generation of folks that are responsible for the day-to-day operations can take that on.
WVE: Tell me about the Joint Interagency Training and Education Center (JITEC) and the Center for National Response.
MGH: It was the foundation block of building the Fort West Virginia concept because what we did was identify a gap related to the threats and weapons of mass destruction response and being able to train. We knew the tunnel was there and that we could make it into a training capability. In mid-2000, before the terrorist attacks, the general and I were flying home from a meeting and he said, “You know, if all we’re doing is preparing people to respond to an attack, have we not missed another gap and should we not be trying to train people to focus on critical infrastructure and protecting assets?” That’s when we moved into the critical infrastructure protection side of things.
When 9/11 occured, we had been right on target. We had two potential solution sets to two of the key gaps that were identified in the attack on our country. That allowed us to build it into the Center for National Response, which is the actual tunnel complex itself, and then add JITEC. JITEC is the only unit of its kind in the military inventory where the primary focus is on the homeland mission, and it has been the catalyst for the establishment of teams in 15 other states within the National Guard. We’ve created a national asset.
WVE: What is it about the people of West Virginia that has made the Guard here so successful?
MGH: I think it’s a couple of things. It’s the spirit of patriotism for their state and their nation, and, quite frankly, a lot of the solutions that we have come up with to things are a result of our independent common sense nature. Also, those skills that go along with being a part of the Mountain State, whether it’s being able to work on a piece of equipment because you worked in a mine or because you have that independent spirit and you fix your own problems—I think those are the things that have put us there.
WVE: What would you say is the most significant thing the Guard has accomplished for its soldiers and airmen here in West Virginia?
MGH: When Gen. Tackett took over in 1995, he made it a priority early on to ensure that our people are the most educated around. We went to the Legislature and made the pitch that we could turn the Guard into a leader if the state would provide the funds to pay for our people to go to college and technical or trade schools. Two senators, Earl Ray Tomblin and Oshel Craigo, championed our initial effort to fund the program. Since 1995, we have paid for men and women of the Guard to get a higher education, and to date, 43 percent of the West Virginia National Guard is either currently in college or has completed college while the overall population of the state is at 15.9 percent. Other than the hospitals or universities, we’ve probably got one of the most educated work forces across the board in the State of West Virginia. More importantly, we’ve created a generational change because men and women who used our money and the GI Bill to go to college or get technical or trade skills now have children who are joining our organization and going to college or trade school. If we want to be remembered for something, I think that would be it.
WVE: Of all of the medals and awards you have received throughout your career, which one is your favorite or means the most?
MGH: Actually, it’s not an award. It’s when I have soldiers and airmen come to me and tell me that because of what we have put together, we’ve given their families an opportunity to stay here in West Virginia, have a good life and do something important. They can send you all kinds of awards and things to put on your walls, but those are the things that you do this job for.
