BERLIN – A Stephen Decatur High School alumnus has recently been recognized with the Military Excellence Award for being the top recruit in his graduating class.
Last month, Nicholas Cardamone, a member of Stephen Decatur High School’s Class of 2021, graduated from the U.S. Navy Recruit Training Command in Great Lakes, Ill., with the Navy Club of the United States Military Excellence Award, honoring the top recruit from the graduating class.
In an interview this week, Cardamone said the recognition came as a surprise.
“I wasn’t shooting for number one,” he said. “I was just doing what I was told to do and doing it the way they wanted me to do it. I was doing my job.”
Last summer, shortly after his high school graduation, Cardamone enlisted in the U.S. Navy and was sworn in on Aug. 22. By November, he had arrived at Recruit Training Command for an eight-week boot camp.
While he acknowledged that training was easier than he anticipated, Cardamone said his life had changed dramatically over the course of those two months.
“You go from having your freedom and making your own choices to being told what you are going to do all day long,” he explained. “But you learn valuable life skills there.”
At the conclusion of boot camp, Cardamone was one of six award recipients to be recognized out of the 823 recruits in his graduating class. He said his selection as the Military Excellence Award recipient was announced a week before his ceremony.
“About a week before graduating, I had to go through an interview in front of the Award Board, where they asked me questions and graded me on my ability to answer those questions, as well as my military bearing and how I presented myself in uniform …,” he said. “I didn’t know I was at the top of my class until my Recruit Division Commander told me.”
In the weeks since his graduation, Cardamone has moved on to Naval Air Station Pensacola, where he plans to complete an extensive aircrew program.
“The whole process is a two-year pipeline,” he said.
And while he has years of training ahead of him, Cardamone said his enlistment has been a lifelong ambition.
“It comes back to an appreciation for my community and all they’ve done for me,” he said. “I just wanted to give back. I also wanted a cool job.”
In the years leading up to his recruitment, Cardamone was a member of the Stephen Decatur High School and Ocean Pines swim teams, served as an Ocean Pines lifeguard and worked as a public safety aide with the Ocean City Police Department.
He said his participation in Stephen Decatur’s NJROTC program had also prepared him for the military.
During his four-year stint in the program, he attended two leadership camps, participated in honor guard details and competitions, and won two Iron Man competitions against Pocomoke and Snow Hill NJROTC programs.
“I got used to putting myself in uncomfortable positions and learning military drills and bearings,” he said.
Cardamone added that he’s also learned the value of serving one’s community from his parents. His father, Brian, is a lieutenant for the Worcester County Sheriff’s Office, while his mom, Melissa, is a communications dispatch supervisor for Ocean City Emergency Services.
“It’s kind of in my bloodline,” he said.
