A later visit with a roommate to Navy recruiters on campus launched him on his path into the military, and by the last semester of his senior year, Klein was on active duty through the NUPOC (Nuclear Propulsion Officer Candidate) Collegiate Program. His broad engineering background prepared him well for the Navy’s rigorous nuclear power training program and submarine duty, where his superior performance led to an early assignment as engineer of a new-construction submarine, the PCU NEVADA (SSBN 733).

 

Other shipboard assignments included USS HENRY CLAY (SSBN 625) as reactor controls and main propulsion assistant and USS NEWPORT NEWS (SSN750) as executive officer. Aboard NEWPORT NEWS, Klein conducted an emergent deployment in support of Operation Desert Storm. He commanded the fast-attack submarine USS ALEXANDRIA (SSN 757) from 1995 through 1997, completing three deployments vital to national security interests.

 

Klein’s shore assignments included the Bureau of Naval Personnel as the submarine junior officer shore detailer; the CINCPACFLT Nuclear Propulsion Examining Board as a junior member; the staff of the Supreme Allied Commander, Atlantic, as the submarine warfare officer; three tours on the staff of the Chief of Naval Operations; and Chief of Staff, US SECOND FLEET/Striking Fleet Atlantic. He holds a master’s degree in National Resource Strategy from the Industrial College of the Armed Forces and was selected for promotion to Rear Admiral in 2004.

 

Klein concluded his naval career as President, Board of Inspection and Survey, from 2007 through 2009. He was 60th in a line of presidents starting with Admiral David Farragut in 1868. In that role, he led the acceptance trials for the Navy’s new ships and the material inspections of more than 50 in-service ships each year.

 

Now retired from the Navy, Klein serves as director of Mid-Atlantic Operations for Global Services and Solutions, Inc., a startup defense contractor providing professional services in technical, program, and contract management.