Following high school he enrolled in Edinboro College and subsequently Duke University, where he earned a master's degree in economics and English.

[1] Hoag joined the United States Navy at the beginning of the Second World War.

By the end of the 1940s Hoag had been involved in six Pacific invasions and had achieved the rank of lieutenant commander.

After the war he remained in the United States Army Reserve until reaching the rank of lieutenant colonel, at which point he retired.

[1] Following his retirement from the presidency at NGC, Hoag he became the mayor of Young Harris, Georgia- a position that he held for two consecutive terms.