Aug 29, 2018 3 min read

The U.S. Navy opened up worlds for Jonathan Kline.

During his rise from ensign to captain, the 1990 Canon-McMillan graduate has lived in Italy, Guam and France and traveled the Mediterranean and Black seas.

“I love Canonsburg, but there is life outside of it, as it turns out,” he said.

Kline’s most recent adventure has him overseeing the Navy’s largest concentration of fleet headquarters including administrative and communication facilities outside of Washington, D.C. On Aug. 17, he was promoted to commanding officer of Naval Support Activity Hampton Roads in Norfolk, Va.

Kline, who has a bachelor’s degree from Carnegie Mellon University and master’s degrees from the University of Tennessee and National Defense University, compared the role to that of a school superintendent or mayor. The base for which he is responsible is home to more than 60 tenant commands (units), employing 24,000 Department of Defense and government employees in six regional bases. The bases encompass more than 5,000 acres in three Virginia cities and two North Carolina counties. Headquarters staff oversee three public works staffs and eight police, security and fire departments.

“The phone rings all hours of the day and night,” said Kline of his full schedule.

“I don’t know that I have any interests outside of work.”

Kline makes it back to Canonsburg about once a year to visit family, including his mother, Suzie, and sister, Mary Beth Kline, who is on Canon-McMillan School Board. His father, Eric, served on the board for multiple terms before his death in 2015.

Though he has traveled the world, Kline said he is a Canonsburg boy through and through. Bobby Vinton, Perry Como, Sarris Candies and the infamous July 4 parade are emblazoned on his brain, he laughed. In no other place has he found such passion and intensity for sports as he has in this region – with the exception, maybe, of New England. He was thrilled to be there this year when the Patriots lost the Super Bowl.

“As a die-hard Steelers fan, it was an amazing experience for me,” he said.

Kline, who, with his wife has three children, said he loves being in the military, despite the fact that it can be a dangerous and thankless job. A career in the Navy has been challenging but full of rewards.

“… I realize what I do makes a difference. Hopefully, you’ll never see the difference,” he said.

Kline said he’s grateful to people like his son, who have signed up to serve their country.

“I think we forget that we’re a nation still at war. I don’t forget that any day. It’s very real to me. I think we need to have people focused on that,” Kline said “We need citizens who are willing to every day wake up and put their life on the line and do something bigger than them. Not just in the military…firefighters, police, teachers, people who work in hospitals…I’m proud of what I do and the people I work with.”