Saetre began his shipbuilding career in 1992 as a pipefitter apprentice. Since then, he has served in positions of increasing responsibility to include design apprentice, designer, planner, and manager of planning and production control for aircraft carriers. Prior to his current role, he served as director of scheduling and capacity planning for all Navy programs.

A 1997 graduate of The Apprentice School, Saetre holds an associate’s degree in mechanical engineering technology from Thomas Nelson Community College and a bachelor’s degree in business administration from Averett University.