Seaman Recruit Steven McAdams, Division 216, graduated as the top Sailor from Recruit Training Command, earning the Military Excellence Award on May 31.

McAdams, from Jacksonville, Florida, said he joined he joined the Navy to help reach his goals.

“I joined the Navy to chase a dream,” he said. “The Navy has been something that I have always been interested in, especially for the past few years.”

McAdams, 21, is a 2016 graduate of Bishop Kenny High School in Jacksonville, Florida, where he was a member of the cross-country and track and field teams. He was the lead training officer of the Bishop Kenny Navy Junior Reserve Officers Training Corps, supervising the competitive drill teams. McAdams attended the University of West Florida in Pensacola, Florida, while pursuing a degree in engineering and formed a sailing club with his fiancé, Victoria Clark.

McAdams is assigned the rate of Machinist’s Mate.

The Navy Club of the United States Military Excellence Award (MEA) is the top award presented to the No. 1 recruit of their graduating training group. The MEA is awarded to the recruit that best exemplifies the qualities of enthusiasm, devotion to duty, military bearing and teamwork. The award placed him at the pinnacle of today’s newest Sailors. McAdams is awarded a flag letter of commendation.

McAdams said he was surprised and honored to be selected for the MEA.

“All through boot camp I was just trying to survive,” he said. “I had a lot of stuff that challenged me and I wasn’t pushing for any sort of an award. I was just trying to stay focused on keeping my head up and doing my absolute best for my family back home.”

McAdams’ boot camp experience became even more challenging when he learned that his father, Christopher McAdams, had passed away.

 “I got called down to the chaplain’s office and he had a Red Cross message saying that my dad had a massive heart attack and passed away soon after,” he said. “I was able to go home and spend a little time with my family. It was incredibly hard to come back to boot camp and stay focused and stay with the training while finding a way to stay mentally tough even when it felt like everything way crumbling around me.”

McAdams credited his Recruit Division Commanders, Electrician’s Mate 1st Class Rubin Fletcher, Damage Controlman 1st Class Cody Osgood, and Sonar Technician (Surface) 2nd Class Caren Ramirez for their leadership and guidance.

He said he was also inspired by his family and shipmates.

“I had lots of people push me and motivate me,” McAdams said. “From my fiancé always having my back to all my fellow shipmates that sat down with me one on one and helped me see that constantly moving forward was the best way to go.”

After graduation, McAdams will attend Machinist's Mate (Surface) Class "A" school in Great Lakes, Illinois.

The duties performed by Machinist's Mates include aligning piping systems for oil, water, air and steam, and controlling the operation of ship boilers and steam turbines used for ship propulsion and service systems. They control the operation of turbogenerators used to produce electrical power.

Boot camp is approximately eight weeks and all enlistees into the U.S. Navy begin their careers at the command. Training includes physical fitness, seamanship, firearms, firefighting and shipboard damage control along with lessons in Navy heritage and core values, teamwork and discipline. More than 35,000 recruits are trained annually at RTC and begin their Navy careers.

For more news from Recruit Training Command, visit www.navy.mil/

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For more news from Recruit Training Command, visit www.navy.mil/.