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Gail Adams Oral History

 Collection
Identifier: WV 0434

Content Description

The collection includes an oral history transcript, 30 October 2008.

Dates

  • 2008 October 30

Creator

Conditions Governing Access

Collection is open for research.

Conditions Governing Use

Copyright is retained by the creators of items in these papers, or their descendants, as stipulated by United States copyright law.

Manuscript collections and archival records may contain materials with sensitive or confidential information. Please see our Sensitive Materials Statement.

Biographical / Historical

Gail Adams (b. 1951) of Cary, North Carolina, served in the United States Air Force from 1970 to 1993 in a wide range of capacities: traffic manager, professional military educator, Titan II nuclear missile commander and instructor, and public affairs officer.

Gail Adams was born in St. Joseph, Missouri, in 1951, and lived in various locations throughout the United States and Europe after her mother remarried a United States Air Force pilot. After graduation from secondary school, Adams worked several jobs before deciding to enlist in the air force in 1970. Adams was initially assigned to a position in traffic management at Keesler Air Force Base, Mississippi, where she arranged air transport for soldiers headed to Vietnam. In 1972, she was reassigned to Rhein-Main Air Base outside of Frankfurt, Germany. Adams was later assigned to Scott Air Force Base, Illinois.

After several years of night classes, Adams received a bachelor's in Industrial Technology from Southern Illinois University. Upon earning her BS, she applied for training as a professional military educator at Maxwell Air Force Base, Alabama, and was retained as an instructor upon graduation." <p.

In 1982, after serving as a professional military educator, Adams was accepted into the Officer Training School at Medina Air Force Base, Texas. Upon receiving her officer's commission, Adams trained to become a missile launch officer on the Titian II intercontinental nuclear ballistic missile system. Adams then served as a deputy crew commander at Little Rock Air Force Base, Arkansas, and later became a full crew commander. She later worked as an instructor, and then the commander of an instructor crew: a position that she would hold until 1986. Adams also earned a master's degree in Operations Management while serving in the Titian II program. Adams was next assigned to the role of section commander at Andrews Air Force Base, Maryland. While serving at this post she was selected to become deputy director of public affairs, and attended the Defense Information School at Fort Benjamin, Indiana.

Adams was later reassigned to Pope Air Force Base, North Carolina, to fill a vacancy created by Operation Desert Shield, where she served as director of public relations. While stationed in North Carolina, she met her husband, and, in 1993, retired as a captain from the air force. Adams worked for Carolina Power and Light until her retirement.

Extent

0.21 Linear Feet (1 folder )

Language of Materials

English

Metadata Rights Declarations

  • License: This record is made available under an Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International Creative Commons license.

Condition Description

The condition is good.

Offensive Language Statement

The UNC Greensboro University Libraries collects, preserves, and makes accessible unique and historical materials for learning and research. The nature of historical materials is such that some material may represent positions, norms, and values that are offensive and objectionable. These materials represent the opinions and actions of their creators. By providing access to these records in our reading room and through our digital collections, we recognize that archives and rare books can play a vital role in holding those creators accountable and in helping us learn from the past.

Our finding aids and other collection descriptions may occasionally re-use language provided by creators or former holders of the materials, but we strive to place outdated or offensive terminology in context. That said, we recognize that we may not always make the right decision and welcome feedback from all sources so we can learn and adjust our practices. Please contact us at scua@uncg.edu if you encounter problematic language in our finding aids or other collection description. We will review the language and, as appropriate, update it in a way that balances preservation of the original context with our ongoing commitment to describing materials with respectful and inclusive language.

Processing Information

Processed by Matthew McCarthy.

Title
Gail Adams Oral History
Status
Completed
Author
Matthew McCarthy
Date
2022 July
Description rules
Describing Archives: A Content Standard
Language of description
English
Script of description
Latin
Language of description note
eng

Repository Details

Part of the Martha Blakeney Hodges Special Collections and University Archives Repository

Contact:
P.O. Box 26170
320 College Ave.
Greensboro NC 27402-6170 US
336-334-5246