Congratulations to Capt. Kai Torkelson, the Business and Strategic Planning Officer at Pearl Harbor Naval Shipyard, for being selected as the next Commanding Officer of Norfolk Naval Shipyard.

Torkelson will return to his home state of Virginia this summer when he relieves Shipyard Commander Capt. Scott Brown during a Change of Command ceremony currently scheduled for June 27.

In an interview with Editor of PHNSY's Shipyard Log Justice Vanatta, Torkelson said he is looking forward to returning to Hampton Roads for the first time since 2013, when he served as the Submarine Repair Officer at Naval Station Norfolk while assigned to NNSY.

Torkelson is a native of Mount Crawford, Virginia, and a third generation naval officer. He was commissioned from the Virginia Military Institute Naval Reserve Officers Training Corps (NROTC) in 1991 with a Bachelor of Science degree in Mechanical Engineering. He also holds a Master of Science degree in Mechanical Engineering from Virginia Tech and two Master of Science degrees from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Naval Construction and Engineering and Ocean Systems Management.

During his 26-year Navy career, Torkelson has served in operational and engineering billets as a submarine nuclear trained officer. For two years, Torkelson was the Assistant Professor of Naval Science at Virginia Tech. In 2006, Torkelson completed a volunteer assignment to Operation Iraqi Freedom. He served at NNSY in both surface and submarine assignments, and reported to Pearl Harbor Naval Shipyard and Intermediate Maintenance Facility (PHNSY & IMF) in 2013, where he served as Production Resources Officer, Operations Officer, and Business and Strategic Planning Officer.

Following the change of command, Brown will continue his Navy career in Washington, D.C. Brown was commissioned with distinction from Officer Candidate School in September 1991 and has served at NNSY since 2012 and as Shipyard Commander since 2014.

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For more news from Norfolk Naval Shipyard, visit www.navy.mil/.