Honor, Courage, Commitment

One of the first things I learned about in my Navy journey was the book Honor, Courage, Commitment. This book was written about Boot Camp, and is the only one of its kind; the author actually followed a division through their eight weeks of Boot Camp.

From the plane ride to Chicago to the graduation ceremony, the book chronicles every move of the Recruits as they work toward becoming official US Sailors. I learned about haircuts, shots, and other fun processing week 'activities'. I followed the division as they went to class, learned to swim, passed (or didn't pass...) physical fitness tests, got sick, went to chapel. I got to 'see' the barracks, the galley, and even the head. (Head means bathroom in the Navy.) The book introduced me to basic Navy terminology like ASMO, Ricky Heaven, BZ, and PIR. The description of the post battle stations capping ceremony is so moving that I cried each time I read it.

The book is dated, however, and some of the things that have changed since its publication. Processing week has been eliminated. Battlestations has totally changed, and is now held in a state of the art simulator. New barracks (ships!) have been built, and Recruits now do much of their eating, training and learning in that one building.

But the obsolete parts did nothing to diminish the value of what I learned from the book. Honor, Courage, Commitment was a window into what my son was going to do in boot camp. I read it, then reread it, then read portions to Mr. Dasch, my mother, our other sons, and anyone else within torturing distance.

Honor, Courage, Commitment was chapter one in my Navy education.

And I was just getting started...