Born in Kalidjati, West Java, Indonesia, Bruggink became a naturalized citizen of the United States in 1960.

[1] He received a Bachelor of Arts in sociology from Auburn University in 1971, cum laude,[1] a Master of Arts in speech from that institution the following year,[1] and a Juris Doctor from the University of Alabama School of Law in 1975,[2] where he was a Hugo Black Scholar and Note and Comments Editor of the Alabama Law Review.

[1] He then returned to private practice as an associate with the law firm of Steiner, Crum & Baker in Montgomery, Alabama until 1982.

Merit Systems Protection Board in November 1982, and served in that position until his appointment as judge of the Court of Federal Claims.

[1] On January 21, 1986, Bruggink was nominated by President Ronald Reagan to what was then the United States Claims Court, to a seat vacated by Harry Eugene Wood.