06/24/2021
Meet AT1 Zoë Adams! She is an and a currently serving at as a member of the Fleet Quality Assurance team at the ’s only
“From the outside looking in as a recruit, you think that the RDCs are super black and white and straightforward, and that just matches my personality,” said Adams. “I volunteered to come back here (as an RDC). I knew as soon as I left here as a recruit that I wanted to be an RDC, even at the beginning, the job seemed like a natural fit.”
Adams being a match with the Navy shouldn’t come as a surprise.
“Growing up, my dad was in the Navy. He was a chief operations specialist and served for 20 years. My mom worked at the Naval hospital. She had my life schedule super structured. I came home from school. I knew what I had to do. My dad had me in Sea Cadets, JROTC, all of these things. So, this life was just bred into me, honestly.”
Despite all the preparation growing up, she was on her own when she enlisted. She found that she had much to learn about herself.
“I was kind of a knucklehead when I checked into my first command. I just have to shout out to my mentor, ATC Felecia Oliver. I met her at my first command and she just kind of grabbed me and got me right and made sure I stayed on the right track. She’s stayed with me through my career and is still there for me today.”
Based on her experience, Adams feels the need to carry on her mentor’s lessons and be that person for others.
“I think real mentorship is a 100 percent one of the most important things in the Navy because without it, you can so easily lose the buy-in from someone who could actually be super good. They just need someone behind them. Don't count somebody out because people say that they're untrainable or unteachable.”
Adams says she has seen those types of Sailors many times in her career and she takes pride in helping them get right.
“Some in leadership positions are quick to just write a counseling chit and do all kinds of other stuff just because they don't know how to deal with what they see as problem children, but they just need to allow themselves to see the potential and know how to tap into it. I see myself in those types of people, 100 percent. Somebody could have just written me off.”
Adams proudly recalls an example from a Sailor she helped guide.
“At my last command, I had a kid come in like that named Bateman. He was very smart, just not on the right track and people weren’t sure about him. I kind of took him under my wing, we even studied for exams together, he got on the right track and now he recently got accepted to the Naval Academy. When he did, he gave me a shout-out. It’s great to see stuff like that. To see someone come out on the other side because, you just never know what's going on with people, man. You never know.”
AT1 Adams!
