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FTCM(SS) Joe Adamson
Of all the people who have influenced my life, Master Chief Joe Adamson ranks among the highest. From my Mk98 C School when he was the Head of the TRIDENT Instructors and an active participant in our pilot course, to him chewing me out for barracks messes or bad haircuts or even teasing me for my severe medical problem he was a constant and daily presence. He reported to Michigan just after I had, becoming the SF Division Chief. He, along with Mitchell were two of my biggest encouragements and really helped me to become the FTB that I once was. “MoFuck,” as we called him, struggled through his first patrol, we found out later that the Navy had changed some of his medications without checking the side effects. Once that was settled, Joe was our leader and a man of integrity and a man to be emulated.
He was on the Dive the night of Oct 31, 1986 (along with Lt. Fritsch on the conn) when the shit hit the fan. The two of them together with the Ships control Party did a lot to make sure we made it through that night intact.
It was Joe who convinced me not to waste my next C School on Tender school. He knew me – maybe better than I did myself at the time – and he told me that I would “love the POSEIDON System.” He was right, and my only real regret is not having ever had the chance to go to sea on the C3 system.
Joe taught me that leaders can be tough, they can be taskmasters, but they can also be father figures and friends. One really bad day, when I had unintentionally f’d up really badly, it was Joe who listened to my side of things, and convinced an unconvinced WEPS to take another chance on me. I will never forget that day, sitting on the bollards at Delta Pier looking at the ship in the depths of the Dry Dock and wondering if I had what it took.
It was just a couple of years later when Joe turned to me and told me that I was it, the guy to fix a crashed MDF that had also taken out a data pack. “Bowman,” he said, “I don’t remember why, but don’t back the heads out too far.”
I found out why, and we had a good laugh over that later. An Admirals LOC hangs on my wall for that adventure. At first I was a little disappointed by that, in a Navy that handed out MUC’s like candy I figured I’d earned one, if not a NCM. I found out later two things, first, it was Joe that had pushed for the LOC, and second, LOC’s are better than MUC’s when it comes to promotions. Even then, Joe was watching out for me.
He was so right about so many things. A man with whom I was proud to serve and even more proud to have as my Division Chief. Like so many of my shipmates with whom I have lost contact, it seems like once again the re-connection comes in the form of sadness and an obituary.
FTCM(SS) Joe Adamson was my Division Chief and he was my friend. And the world is a sadder place without his laugh, his pipe and his friendship.
SSBN-727.ORG 