The Coast Guard has selected the ninth Master Chief Petty Officer of the Coast Guard Reserve (MCPO-CGR). Master Chief Petty Officer Will Adams will formally assume the role in a Nov. 4 ceremony at Coast Guard Headquarters.
“I am honored to announce that we have selected MCPO Will Adams to serve as the next Master Chief Petty Officer of the Coast Guard Reserve,” said Heath B. Jones, fourteenth Master Chief Petty Officer of the Coast Guard (MCPOCG). “There was an extremely robust and talented pool of candidates that were interviewed, and the future of the Reserve Command Senior Enlisted Leader (CSEL) Program is very bright. I am very excited to get to work with Will and for the great things we will accomplish over the next two years.”
For Adams, the Coast Guard’s greatest strength has always been its people. He came to love his first unit because “the camaraderie there was fantastic,” and it made him feel at “home.” Since joining the Coast Guard in 2006, he’s found that “we’re packed with really good people” at every command under which he’s served. That focus on people-first leadership and service will continue in his new role.
“It’s so humbling” to have been selected and to have the field’s support, Adams said. Reflecting on his career brought a flood of memories of—and gratitude for—mentors and shipmates who have empowered, encouraged, and supported him along the way. That support was critical to his decision to apply for the job.
The focus on people underpins Adams’s approach to leadership and his day-to-day. “When I have junior members come to me and tell me how I’ve impacted them, those are my best moments,” he said.
In his most recent role as Region One Supervisor at Coast Guard Recruiting Command (CG-RC), Adams played a key role in the Coast Guard’s recent success—it exceeded all recruiting benchmarks for the first time since 2017. That success “was a total team effort” from CG-RC leadership to the hard work of each recruiter.
Adams has held a range of roles in a 28-year career in uniform. He first enlisted in the Pennsylvania Army National Guard in March 1994. In the Army, he deployed in support of Operation Enduring Freedom in 2002, Operation Iraqi Freedom in 2005.
Though the Coast Guard runs in Adams’s family—he is the fourth generation to serve in a seafaring service and his great aunt was a SPAR—he did not imagine being a Coastie until a fateful conversation with a fellow soldier who had served in the Coast Guard. That soldier’s love of the Coast Guard set Adams on a new path.
In the Coast Guard, Adams explained, “you’re a name, not a number.” He realized soon after joining that he was in the right place.
After joining the Coast Guard in 2006, he began in Shoreside Security Division for Port Security Unit (PSU) 307. During his tour at PSU 307, he deployed in support of Operation Enduring Freedom in 2008, Operation Unified Response in 2010, and Operation New Dawn in 2011. He completed his tour at PSU 307 as Training Chief. He then was assigned to Coast Guard Reserve Unit Southern Command. From 2018 to 2023, Adams served at the Special Missions Training Center (SMTC), where he held various roles including Master Training Specialist Coordinator.
As Adams assumes his new role, his goals are clear. “My number one priority is the betterment of the workforce,” he said. “We need to make sure that we’re providing ample opportunity for our Reserve members to succeed, to achieve greatness, and to feel like they’re having an impact.”
He's eager “to improve the overall day-to-day of the workforce—officers included—because we are a total workforce.” That work began with administering the Reserve Service Wide Exam (SWE) for Reservists mobilizing for the ongoing hurricane responses. Next, Adams aims to finalize the 2025 Senior Chief Advancement Panel and to release it well in advance “so our workforce understands how they can prepare.”
Adams looks forward to supporting the Reserve at a time when the Coast Guard is transforming to meet new missions and new challenges. “We have to understand that in order for us to remain relevant, we have to evolve as well.” To do so, he will build on the Reserve Component Action Plan (RCAP)’s strategy of identifying Reserve capabilities, building on them, and realigning as necessary. “We need to ensure that the Reserve Component is impactful every day and for whatever might lie ahead,” he added.
Thrilled as he is to formally assume the role of MCPO-CGR at the Nov. 4 ceremony at Coast Guard Headquarters, Adams is looking to the horizon. “I’d like to think my most meaningful moment’s yet to come.”
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