Transformed from Civilian to Marine: My Journey

I was told once that approximately ten percent of the United States population joins the military. Of that ten percent, only ten percent decides to join the Marine Corps. The men and women charged with training the one percent of the United States population are known as Drill Instructors. There is one Drill Instructor that I personally had to learn from, and the name I knew him by was Drill Instructor Staff Sergeant Nolley. He was the teacher that, I felt, had the biggest impact in transforming me from civilian into a Marine.

As a civilian there are habits that everyone predominantly sees as normal that in no way are ok in boot camp. Things like wiping the sweat out of the eyes or yawning. Even looking a drill instructor in the eyes, which would normally be polite in the “real world”, was forbidden and was a one way ticket to “incentive training”, or as we knew it “IT”, which is a fancy term for punishment. It was Staff Sergeant Nolley’s job to teach us how to behave and how to think like a Marine. He would tell us when to shower, eat, sleep, and even when and where to walk; because of this extremely focused

A lot of marines do that because they don't want to look weak. The other lesson was that when there is someone who is committed to a cause and another who is struggling that one can bring up the other. Granted, the temperament of both of these lessons was definitely an unhappy and stressed one but, I have yet to forget them and I probably never will. Because of Staff Sergeant Nolley and his constant lessons I went from a civilian that could not see past his own nose to a Marine that was aware of those around him and was looking for a way to fix problems. I may not be in the Marine Corps now but I know that I will always be a Marine inside because of the time spent at Paris Island under the tutelage of Drill Instructor Staff Sergeant