Leonard Adams

Mass Communication Specialist 1st Class Leonard Howard Adams Jr., a 2nd generation Sailor and native of Detroit, Michigan, joined the Navy in December 2008. 

His initial tour after graduating from Recruit Training Command and MC “A” School at Defense Information School (DINFOS) was aboard the aircraft carrier USS George H.W. Bush (CVN 77) as a Mass Communication Specialist for the ship’s media department.  While on Bush, Petty Officer Adams had the opportunity to capture imagery from a plethora of subjects, including her maiden deployment in support of Operations Enduring Freedom and New Dawn, as well as in support of a Carrier Strike Group 2 backed patrol along the shores of the Great Lakes in 2012 during the War of 1812 Commemoration. 

In January 2013, Petty Officer Adams rotated to shore duty at Defense Media Activity (DMA), Headquarters in Ft Meade, Md. There he worked for the Production Support Directorate, where he honed his video skills by supporting over 281 productions for the Department of Defense. Midway through his stint at DMA he attended the Intermediate Photojournalism Course (IPC) at DINFOS, where he was taught the latest techniques in multimedia storytelling. Upon completion of IPC, MC1 Adams was reassigned within DMA to Navy Production where he worked in both its image acquisition and All Hand Magazine divisions. 

After his tour at DMA Petty Officer Adams was selected to attend the Newhouse Advance Military Visual Journalism Program at Syracuse University, which he graduated from in May of 2016.  Adams also served as creative director while part of U.S. 7th Fleet Staff, embarked aboard USS Blue Ridge (LCC 19) forward deployed in Yokosuka, Japan from June 2016 to August 2020.

MC1 Adams has a passion for sound design, storytelling and travel.