HOUSE RESOLUTION NO. 14

(By Delegate Boggs, Mr. Speaker, Mr. Thompson, and Delegates Anderson, Andes, Armstead, Ashley, Azinger, Barill, Barker, Border, Brown, Butcher, D. Campbell, T. Campbell, Cann, Canterbury, Caputo, Carmichael, Cowles, Craig, Crosier, Doyle, Duke, Ellem, Ellington, Ennis, Evans, Ferns, Ferro, Fleischauer, Fragale, Frazier, Gearheart, Givens, Guthrie, Hall, Hamilton, Hartman, Hatfield, Householder, Howell, Hunt, Iaquinta, Ireland, Jones, Kominar, Kump, Lane, Lawrence, Longstreth, Mahan, Manchin, Manypenny, Marshall, Martin, Michael, Miley, C. Miller, J. Miller, Moore, Morgan, Moye, Nelson, O'Neal, Overington, Pasdon, Paxton, Perdue, Perry, Pethtel, L. Phillips, R. Phillips, Pino, D. Poling, M. Poling, Poore, Reynolds, Rodighiero, Romine, Rowan, Savilla, Shaver, Sigler, Skaff, Smith, Snuffer, Sobonya, Staggers, Stephens, Storch, Stowers, Sumner, Swartzmiller, Talbott, Varner, Walker, Walters, Wells, White and Williams)

Honoring the forty-eight years of service and career of Allen E. Tackett, the longest serving Adjutant General of the West Virginia National Guard.

    Whereas, On January 20, 1963, East Bank High School graduate Allen E. Tackett became a private in the West Virginia Army National Guard’s 16th Special Forces Group; and

    Whereas, Adjutant General Tackett earned a degree from the University of Charleston while serving in the Guard, was commissioned a second lieutenant after Infantry Officer Candidate School at Fort Benning, Georgia and spent twenty-five years in Special Forces units; and

    Whereas, Governor Gaston Caperton appointed Allen E. Tackett as the state’s Adjutant General in 1995 and when Adjutant General Tackett retires on January 31, 2011, with over forty-eight years of service to his credit, he will be the longest-serving Adjutant General in the nation; and

    Whereas, Adjutant General Tackett has overseen more than $780 million in military construction in West Virginia. He also played a critical role in the 2005 fight to block the Base Realignment and Closure Commission from closing the 130th Airlift Wing at Yeager Airport; and

    Whereas, Members of the state’s Army and Air National Guard units serve all over the world, and in times of trouble, all over West Virginia as well. Those units are highly valued by their fellow citizens. But even more so by their commander. Adjutant General Tackett cherishes the introduction of the West Virginia National Guard’s tuition assistance program. In return for six-year enlistment agreements, it helps soldiers and airmen cover college expenses; and

    Whereas, Record numbers of West Virginia Army and Air National Guard soldiers made the transition to active duty status during his tenure, to serve in Iraq, Afghanistan and other global hotspots; and

    Whereas, Adjutant General Tackett has served his country and state with the highest honor and dignity in both times of peace and times of strife; therefore, be it

    Resolved by the House of Delegates:

    That the House of Delegates recognizes the service, the accomplishments and the honor that Adjutant General Tackett has brought upon his state, his country and his fellow soldiers; and, be it

    Further Resolved, That the Clerk of the House of Delegates forward certified copies of this resolution to the West Virginia Army National Guard’s 16th Special Forces Group and Adjutant General Allen E. Tackett.