November 2016 - Parks & Recreation - 56

NRPA Update

Member Spotlight: Kristina K. Adams

or the past five years, Kristina K. Adams, NAF USARMY IMCOM FMWRC (US), has been the Fitness Director/Special Events at Hunter Army
Airfield in Savannah, Georgia. Adams hails from Texas and after graduating from San Angelo State University with a degree in Kinesiology and a
background in sports, she decided she wanted to work at a fitness center. " I played
basketball the first half of my college career, " she shared, " so I knew I wanted to do
something in the fitness/sports field. I was so fortunate to get on with the Navy, and it
has opened up so many opportunities for me in the field. " Before taking the position
in Georgia, Adams spent the first 14 years of her career in Texas: as the gym/pool
manager at Naval Station Ingleside and then as its Intramural Sports Coordinator, before taking a position as the fitness director at Naval Air Station Kingsville. Last May,
Adams received the Commander's Award for Civilian Service for her performance as
action officer for a duathlon hosted by Hunter Army Airfield in honor of the installation's 75th Diamond Anniversary celebration. Parks & Recreation magazine recently had
a chance to catch up with Adams - following is a portion of our conversation:
Parks & Recreation magazine: What's
different about providing recreation
for enlisted military members and
their families?
Kristina K. Adams: We have the distinct
privilege of providing activities and services that affect the quality of life of the
men and women who serve this great
country as well as their families who,
through their sacrifice, serve right alongside their spouse or parent. Morale,
Well-Being and Recreation (MWR) goes
beyond recreation in that we provide added services, such as child care and library
services. We also have some unique facilities that really allow us to provide services
to literally everyone in the family. Know-

ing that what we do within the MWR directorate makes a difference in the lives of
our soldiers and, I hope, makes things a
little more bearable for the families while
their loved ones are away in service of our
country, gets me excited about my work.
P&R: You mentioned that you are one
garrison but two separate installations:
Fort Stewart in Hinesville, Georgia, and
Hunter Army Airfield in Savannah. What
kind of challenge does that present?
Adams: I think it is the ability to continue
to provide quality services with the lack of
resources due to the fiscal challenges we
are facing. Hunter Army Airfield is much
smaller than Fort Stewart, but we still have

a community to support. Because of our
size, I try to find activities that are unique
and fun, but do not require a lot of staff or
resources to conduct. So, along with some
of our larger events, such as Christmas
tree lighting and Fourth of July, I like to
include some smaller events with the goal
of getting families out of the house and
moving. Army MWR is a big family, so
we reach out to each other on a regular basis to get ideas and to see what is working
and not working on other installations. We
were fortunate enough to have a session
at NRPA this year in which the presenters
just gave us a plethora of programming
ideas that other installations are doing that
face the same challenges. We are figuring
out how to do more with less to give our
community something to be involved in.
P&R: What is one of your favorite events?
Adams: My favorite event has to be the
cardboard boat regatta. Participants have
to construct a boat using only cardboard
and duct tape. They bring their vessel the
day of the race and have to row it with
a two-man crew the length of the pool.
I have broken down the event into categories to make it fairer for the younger
participants and the fastest time in each
category receives a trophy. I also have a
trophy for the best-decorated boat. Some
of our participants really get into it.
- Sonia Myrick, Managing Editor of Parks
& Recreation magazine

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November 2016 - Parks & Recreation

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