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Cherry Festival 2015 scholarship recipient Joey Aceto, a former Beaumont resident and student, received a Cherry Festival Association scholarship upon graduation from Redlands East Valley high school in 2012. At that point, he had already signed a six year contract to join the Navy Nuclear Propulsion Training Command. After taking the summer off, he shipped out to Navy basic training in Great Lakes, Illinois on Sept. 11, 2012. He graduated on Nov. 9 and immediately transferred to the NNPTC in Goose Creek, South Carolina. Aceto returned to Beaumont for the holidays. On Christmas day, 2012 he got down on one knee and proposed to his high school sweetheart, Ashley Rosauer. They were married March 30, 2013 at the Beaumont Presbyterian Church. The newlyweds returned to South Carolina so Joey could continue his training. He graduated from Nuclear Field "A" school after three months as a machinist's mate. The next step in his specialized training was nuclear power school (NPS or "Nuke School"). Nuke school is widely regarded as the most mentally demanding program in the U.S. military. NPS coursework includes general physics, atomic and nuclear physics, nuclear reactor engineering, radiation protection technology, general chemistry, principles of materials, technical mathematics, heat transfer and fluid flow, applied thermodynamics, hydraulic systems, and power plant systems. Graduates of the NPS continue training with 24 weeks of instruction at the Nuclear Power Training Unit, or "Prototype." Prototype, one of which is located at the former Naval Weapons Station Charleston, has two decommissioned submarines, the Daniel Webster (MTS-626) and the Sam Raybum (MTS-635). These moored training ships have fully operational S5W reactor power plants. Prototype is six months of full time training. Classroom training includes six weeks of basic systems, theory and procedures overview. Another 20 weeks of hands on instruction includes actual reactor plant operation while learning procedures such as watch standing operations and practical exercises. Aceto graduated from the Navy Nuclear Power Training Command on Aug. 15, 2014. Nukes are affectionately referred to as the Navy "Brain Seals." Shortly thereafter, the Aceto's received good news – he was being stationed closer to home in San Di- ego and was assigned to the Nimitz class super carrier USS Carl Vinson (VN 70). CVN 70 is the flagship of the carrier strike group 1. The ship is under com- mand of Captain Karl O. Thomas. Aceto and his wife moved back to southern California in September 2014. They found an apartment and dropped anchor in San Diego with their cat Tarzan and dog Copper. On Oct. 3, Aceto received orders to join up with is ship in Singapore. Within a week, CVN 70 was underway in the Persian Gulf, accompanied by Carrier Air Wing Seventeen, Destroyer Squadron 1 and its ships, guided missile cruisers USS Bunker Hill, USS Gridley and USS Sterett, in fighting the Islamic State of Iraq and al- Sham – better known as ISIS. In Aceto's words… "We're putting warheads on foreheads." Aceto's Cherry Festival scholarship was used to purchase a laptop computer that he put to good use throughout his nuclear training. It continues to be his primary means of communication with his loving wife, family and friends. Basic training graduation Nov. 2012 Joey and Ashley Aceto married March 30, 2013 Navy Nuclear Power Training graduation, Aug. 2014 Congratulations to Joey Aceto, our