Nicholas R. Yokanovich, CTI2(AC) USN, 1967-1971


I joined in 1967 thinking I was going into the nuclear program. 
Somewhere in the middle of boot camp, around the fourth week of 
constant flu symptoms from shots, they asked me to sign the form 
committing to six years' service. Wrong time to ask. I said no and 
they said the result was I wouldn't get any school. Out to the fleet. 
My CC was a very nice guy and told me to go if ordered, but put in a 
school request when I got to a ship. Essentially he told me to call 
their bluff.  Somewhere in there we got briefings on all the ratings, 
and the CT briefing included a murky passage about language training. 
I had a 45 on the FLAT, and had enjoyed language classes in high 
school. Next stop was the detailer. I gave him my wish list: 1st 
choice Corpsman, I forget the 2nd choice, 3rd choice language school 
with Vietnamese first, Chinese second, Russian third. So guess what I 
got?  Yep, I got my last choice, and never regretted it.
 
Nick Yokanovich
Monterey '68
Rota '69-71