Betty L. Adams was born in New York on December 3, 1932. Adams enlisted in the U.S. Women’s Army Corps on May 28, 1952, and during her 23-year career she was promoted to every enlisted grade from Private to Sergeant Major. Upon completion of basic training and leadership school at Fort Lee, Virginia, she was selected to remain at Fort Lee as permanent party in a WAC basic training company and later volunteered for platoon sergeant duties training troops at Fort McClellan. In 1957 she was assigned in the personnel field at the Pentagon, Washington, D.C. Where she was promoted twice and received many awards and commendations.
In 1964 the situation in Vietnam had intensified and the Republic of Vietnam was organizing a Women’s Armed Forces Corps (WAFC) and wanted U.S. WACs to assist them in planning and developing it. General Westmoreland, Commander of The Military Assistance Command, Vietnam, authorized one officer space and one enlisted space and the requisitions were submitted to the Pentagon to Colonel Emily Gorman, Director of the Women’s Army Corps. The requisition for the enlisted woman was a first and she was to be chosen for excellence in leadership, training, administration and recruiting.
On January 15, 1965, Sergeant First Class Betty Adams stepped off an airplane in Saigon and into the advisory position for the WAFC. Here she established a five-week training program for the Vietnamese women that closely paralleled the WAC program. She even learned to count cadence in Vietnamese.
On December 3, 1965 she left Vietnam at 5 p.m. and arrived in San Francisco at 9 p.m. the same day, her birthday. “It was the longest birthday I ever had-38 hours long” she reflected. Her next assignment was back to Fort Myer with duty at the Military Personnel Center. This job in personnel led to her promotion to Sergeant Major (E-9).
Lieutenant General Walter Kerwin Jr., Deputy Chief of Staff for Personnel, administered the oath of reenlistment to SGM Adams at a ceremony at the Pentagon. SGM Adams reenlisted for assignment to the Army General Staff as an action officer, a unique event in that she was the first enlisted woman to serve as an action officer on the General Staff. She was assigned to the Directorate of Military Personnel Policies, Office of Deputy Chief of Staff for Personnel, and was responsible for staff actions involving the Army’s Qualitative Management Program for enlisted personnel.
Sergeant Major Betty L. Adams, retired on May 31, 1975. She would later become a member of the Women’s Army Corps Veterans’ Association, Heritage Chapter 62 Inc., the Director of the Women’s Army Corps Foundation, and would dedicate time to the Jacksonville Meals on Wheels, Inc.
Sergeant Major Betty L. Adams died January 20th, 2012, but she is remembered as a mentor and a servant leader.
Sources:
https://www.legacy.com/us/obituaries/annistonstar/name/betty-adams-obituary?id=19881651
https://www.legacy.com/us/obituaries/annistonstar/name/betty-adams-obituary?id=19881651
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