Georgia State Defense Force Award

COL Hightower presents the Georgia State Defense Force Award to c/MAJ James Adams.

THE UNIVERSITY OF NORTH GEORGIA, Dahlonega, Georgia, March 31, 2015, By 2LT Allan Hayes – Growing up in The City of Springboro, a suburb of Cincinnati and Dayton, Ohio, 175 miles from Lake Eerie, the nearest significant body of water, young James Adams dreamed of attending the United States Coast Guard Academy. In his senior year of High school, he realized that his ideal of serving his nation in the armed forces was more closely aligned with the mission of the Army or Marine Corp. He decided on the Army as a career because of its more soldier centric mission and broader opportunities to serve as an officer. Naturally, when given the choice of an ROTC program in Ohio or Georgia, this smart cadet chose the University of North Georgia (UNG).

On this night, Cadet Major James Adams, a senior who will graduate this May with a major in Political Science and a minor in Military Leadership, sat with fifty-nine fellow members of the Boar’s Head Brigade, as the Corps of Cadets at UNG in known, awaiting his turn to be honored at the 2015 Military Awards Ceremony.

The annual Georgia State Defense Force Award was presented by Colonel Rusty Hightower, GSDF Chief of Staff, to c/Maj. Adams for his outstanding leadership, academic achievement and dedication to the high physical, moral, and mental standards of the Georgia military tradition. In its second year, the award was initiated by the GSDF General Staff as a way to show support for, and be a part of, the annual awards ceremony of the military college for the state.

MAJ James Adams with GSDF Chief of Staff COL Rusty Hightower in the Great Room of the Hoag Student Center.

The University of North Georgia, designated by the Department of the Army as a Senior Military College, is one of six senior military colleges in the nation. Col. Hightower, and his wife, attended the military college and they currently have a grandson in the cadet corps. While speaking with other presenters and guests at the UNG Parents & Family Association reception held after the ceremony in the Great Room of the Hoag Student Center, Hightower said that “it is always a pleasure to see these exceptional young people and know that the future of the country is in their capable hands.” After posing for some photographs for Adams’ family and certain GSDF Public Affairs officers in front of the center’s giant stone fireplace and beneath the stained glass windows and flags of the home nations of international students, the distinguished Colonel reflected, “I owe this school everything.”

Cadet Major Adams serves as the Company XO of the Military Science III year Leadership Development Program (LDP). The LDP is a structured set of rotations where MSIII cadets are assigned to specific roles in an organization consisting of Companies, Platoons, and Squads. While filling this position he is evaluated according to his ability to exemplify the seven Army Values as well as perform in 17 Leadership Dimensions.

MAJ James Adams with his Georgia State Defense Force Award.

Upon graduation May 2nd, and his concurrent commissioning, Adams will join the U.S. Army Ordnance Corps at Fort Lee, Virginia. As a newly invested officer, his first task is to complete the four-month Ordnance Basic Officer Leadership Course.

The Georgia State Defense Force Award presented to Adams included a certificate, a GSDF coin, the Commendation Medal and 200 dollars. He was very honored to have received the award and said that his award money “will be very helpful.” He will use it to help defray the cost of uniforms and further academic pursuits.