Major General Ricky Adams, U.S. Army National Guard

Major General Ricky Adams

U.S. Army National Guard, Retired

Inducted 2024

Ricky Adams was born in Elk City, Oklahoma in January 1960. In 1979 he completed training and joined an 8-in SP cannon unit, BTRY C, 1st BN 171st FA, Oklahoma National Guard. He began his first law enforcement job at the Elk City Police Department. Adams graduated from OCS followed by the Basic Officer Course in 1982 and received an assignment to BTRY A, 1st BN 171st FA. Ricky’s Law Enforcement Career includes the Elk City Police Deptartment, the Edmond Police Department, and Oklahoma Highway Patrol.  and after graduating from the academy, he was assigned to the detachment in Guthrie. In 1987 Ricky took Command of BTRY B, 1st BN 171st FA, in Anadarko. After Battery Command, he moved up and served as Liaison and then as Fire Direction officer at the Battalion. He stayed within the 1-171st except for a brief time as the Counterfire Officer at Brigade, and then promoted to Major as S3 and later XO at the 1st in Lawton. On the day of the Oklahoma City Bombing, Ricky was among those first responders, arriving on the scene only 25-30 minutes after the explosion. He spent the day trying to rescue as many as possible from the rubble at the site. After Battalion command at the 1-171^st FA MLRS and a year at War College, Ricky was promoted to zone commander at OHP and attended the FBI National Academy. Adams was promoted to Colonel in 2002, served within the State Area Command, and soon after took command of the 45th FA Brigade, in Enid. In 2005, Ricky was assigned to be the Deputy Assistant Commandant at, U.S. Army Field Artillery School, Fort Sill. While at Fort Sill, the bureau tapped COL Adams to be the Director, Police Reform Directorate, Combined Security Transition Command, Camp Eggers, Kabul. When he returned to Oklahoma, he became the Deputy Commander for Army National Guard Field Artillery, Field Artillery Center, Fort Sill. He earned his first star and was promoted to Brigadier General in 2007. BG Adams became the Commander, Land Component Command, Joint Force Headquarters in OKC. The following December he took over as Assistant Adjutant General - Army, Oklahoma National Guard. Ricky was also promoted and served as the Deputy Chief of the Oklahoma Highway Patrol in 2010. In 2011 he was promoted to Major General and became the Deputy Commanding General, Army National Guard, TRADOC at Fort Monroe, all while serving as the Assistant Commissioner for the Oklahoma Department of Public Safety. When he was promoted to the Chief of the Oklahoma Highway Patrol. In 2014 he retired after 36 years of service to the Field Artillery, the State of Oklahoma, and his Nation. Ricky continued to serve as the Chief of the OHP until 2017, serving as commander over state law enforcement operations, numerous state natural disasters, and manhunts. He was asked to become the Director of the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation assuming command in 2018. He continued to serve at the OSBI for just shy of five years, leading the OSBI to its highest level of operational effectiveness in its nearly 100-year history. With his selection as the OSBI's Director in 2018, he became the only state law enforcement officer to rise through the ranks to lead both of Oklahoma's largest state police agencies. In 2014 Ricky was inducted into the Oklahoma National Guard’s OCS Hall of Fame and in 2023 was inducted into the Oklahoma Law Enforcement Hall of Fame. Today he spends his time volunteering with Committee 100, which supports Law Enforcement, volunteering in his local church, and with many school organizations. MG Ricky Adams has served his state and country, in a military, professional, and personal capacity for the better part of his lifetime.