Brigadier General William B. Dyer III (Beta Commission–VMI ’85) will be promoted to the rank of Major General on Friday, October 21,
2022, at the Military Women’s Memorial in Arlington, Virginia.
Brigadier General William B. Dyer III is currently serving as the Commanding General for the United States Army Reserve Legal Command, Gaithersburg, Maryland. Prior to this assignment, Brigadier General Dyer served as the Assistant Judge Advocate General for Military Law and Operations (IMA), with duty at the Pentagon, a position held since December 2017, with the exception of an 8-month deployment to Afghanistan, where he led the combined US, NATO, and coalition initiative to establish the Rule of Law within the Afghan National Army and the Afghan National Police. Brigadier General Dyer’s previous assignments include: Deputy Commander East of the United States Army Reserve Legal Command; Commander, 153th Legal Operations Detachment; Deputy Chief of Staff, G-3/5/7 for the U.S. Army Reserve Legal Command; Staff Judge Advocate of the 335th Signal Command in East Point, GA; Staff Judge Advocate for the 3d Medical Command at Ft. Gillem, GA; deployment with the 416th FEC-SE as part of the 3d Infantry Division for the initial invasion of Iraq during Operation Iraqi Freedom; Staff Judge Advocate of the 416th Engineer Command’s Facility Engineer Center, Southeast; and as first assignments after leaving Active Duty, he served in a variety of positions including Trial Counsel, Mobilization Officer, and Legal Assistance Attorney with the 213th Legal Support Organization.
Brigadier General Dyer earned his bachelor of science in Electrical Engineering from the Virginia Military Institute in 1985 and his law degree from the Cumberland School of Law at Samford University in 1992. His military education includes a Masters in Strategic Studies from the U.S. Army War College, as well as the Advanced Joint Professional Military Education course, U.S. Army Command and General Staff College, and the Judge Advocate Officer Basic and Advanced Courses.
Brigadier General Dyer was initially commissioned in the U.S. Air Force and served on the Base Engineering Staff at Lowry AFB, CO. Following graduation from law school, he was commissioned in the Army and served four years on Active Duty at Ft. Gordon, GA as a Legal Assistance Attorney and Trial Defense Counsel.
His military awards include the Defense Superior Service Medal, Legion of Merit, Bronze Star Medal, Meritorious Service Medal with 5 Oak Leaf Clusters, Army Commendation Medal with 2 Oak Leaf Clusters, Iraq Campaign Medal, Afghanistan Campaign Medal, Presidential Unit Citation, and the Combat Action Badge.
Brigadier General Dyer is a partner in the Atlanta office of Lee & Hayes, where he chairs the firm’s national intellectual property litigation practice, primarily focusing on patent, trademark, and trade secret issues. He has been nationally recognized by Chambers and Managing Intellectual Property as a leader in the intellectual property field, and is a frequent lecturer on intellectual property topics. He has been a faculty member of the National Trial Advocacy College at the University of Virginia School of Law since 2006, and is a member of the Georgia Bar.
Brigadier General Dyer is married and has two daughters.
