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Video by Maj. Jacqwayne Griffin

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MSG Christopher J. Adame - 2025 Drill Sergeant Hall of Fame Inductee

108th Training Command- Initial Entry Training

Sept. 18, 2025 | 1:08

MSG Adame graduated from the Drill Sergeant Academy in 2015 and served as a Drill Sergeant in the 1/14th Battalion, where he was selected as the 1/14th Drill Sergeant of the Year.

In 2016, he was chosen to be a Drill Sergeant Leader/Instructor at the Drill Sergeant Academy, where he served two cycles with the 2nd Platoon, Wolfpack. During this time, he assisted in the conversion of AITPSGs back to Drill Sergeants and conducted the final class of the AITPSG course.

After serving as a Senior Drill Sergeant Leader, SFC Adame was appointed as the Chief of Training. In this role, he rewrote the Course Management Plan and ISAP to reflect processes and procedures that had not been included in the course doctrine for years.

During the COVID-19 pandemic, MSG Adame responded to the Army’s stop movement and training holds by preparing a two-week curriculum that covered three weeks of classroom training to be delivered virtually. He received concurrence from all three Army components within weeks and developed a training plan to transition virtually-qualified students to the resident phase. Additionally, he aligned training periods to support longer cycle breaks for Drill Sergeant Leaders and facilitate more training classes from FY 21-23.

As Chief of Training, MSG Adame also developed a new training plan that helped avoid a forced extension on qualified Drill Sergeants due to personnel shortages (-800 qualified personnel). He updated the training model, resulting in the overproduction of 500 qualified Drill Sergeants in one fiscal year. He further updated the course curriculum to include the DOD-mandated BLS requirement, supplementing CLS requirements across the Initial Military Training environment. He certified and approved more than 20 Drill Sergeant Leaders for Senior Army Instructor Badges and codified the Faculty Development Recognition Program.

MSG Adame was a key member of the development team that created, tested, and integrated the Drill Sergeant Academy's SHARP curriculum. He improved test control procedures, significantly reduced physical space requirements, and eliminated barriers to effective testing while maintaining the Blackboard for over 40 courses.

Additionally, MSG Adame provided consultation to the United States Marine Corps Training Command on how to implement gender integration into their Initial Military Training and educated the Israeli Defense Forces on the importance of Non-Commissioned Officers and personnel development.

MSG Adame now serves on the board of the United States Drill Sergeant Association and was the lead coordinator for the association for the 2025 Drill Sergeant of the Year competition.