About Boot Camp
In September of 2001, just after 9/11/01, I joined the Navy. The country, the world, was and still is in shock. It’s the most horrible attack on us soil ever. The country was on high alert, the military even higher. I shipped off to boot camp in September 01.
I finally arrived at the boot camp and the first one to chew us out is the bus driver. I should have expected that one. We needed to move off the bus as soon as possible! Getting off the bus you get checked in, proceed to complete a lot of paperwork, and then you go to Medical, then two more paperwork. Eventually, you are assigned to a division. Then the real work begins.
Our division had a chief who was in charge of the division. And a first-class officer who was second in command. When the chief would shout his commands, he would sometimes call us nuggets. “Fall in line nuggets!”, “50 push-ups nuggets”, “Nuggets!”, “line up, uniform inspection!” After a few weeks, someone in the division asked the chief, “why do you always call us nuggets?”
He said okay I’ll tell you. “I mean the Nugget to be like a nugget of gold. Something that can be crafted and refined into something like a necklace or a bracelet or a ring, something beautiful.” But right now you’re all just nuggets!”