James McAdams Interview
Laura Breslin
Issue date: 10/26/05 Section: features
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Versus Magazine Online [Image based format]
In the aftermath of 9/11, many men and women enlisted in the military, some as full-time soldiers, others as weekend warriors in the National Guard. James McAdams was not one of them. A senior in high school when the twin towers fell, Second Lieutenant McAdams as he is now known, had already been awarded a Naval Reserve Officers Training Corp scholarship.
"I applied for the program late in junior year, so I actually already had my application turned in when September 11th happened," McAdams said. "It put a whole new spin on things, but it didn't change my mind about joining the Navy; it was still what I wanted to do."
"I didn't really know what I wanted to do in high school, but I thought, the ROTC and the Navy will give me the opportunity to have my school paid for," McAdams said, "And you have a guaranteed job when you graduate, and it's a good job."
For McAdams, unlike other men and women in the armed forces, military life isn't a family thing.
"Both of my parents were music majors in college," McAdams said, adding, however, that he does have an uncle by marriage who joined the Army, which led to a bit of Armed Forces competition.
At Vanderbilt, McAdams said that the participants in the ROTC program are indeed like a band of brothers.
"The program is like a fraternity, but with girls in it," McAdams said. "We are all united under this common bond, and that is the pledge to serve our country."
"That is something special that you can hold your head high about. You definitely walk with a sense of pride-not arrogance or anything like that-but you are doing something special, and the other guys are in it with me for the long haul."
With the nation at war and four years of service ahead, McAdams admitted he was a bit wary about next year.
"I want to be a good officer, not just for myself, but for the guys that will be under me. You have to be the guy that they can approach, a father figure," McAdams said.