Captain Dixie (Klein) Aune was born to Lewis and Donna Klein in Fargo, ND. Dixie grew up in Harwood with her 3 sisters and graduated from West Fargo High School in 1987. She was an All-Conference and All-State runner on the WFHS Cross Country and Track Teams coached by John Tomaszewski, Greg Grooters, Don Zimney, & Paul Rykken. While in high school she enlisted in the Army National Guard serving as an Army Medic. Upon graduation, she attended North Dakota State University as an NCAA Cross Country & Track Student Athlete. Dixie was commissioned in the United States Navy after graduating in 1991 with a Bachelor of Science in Nursing.

While in the Navy, Dixie served in various roles across the country, onboard ships, and overseas. She has been recognized with numerous State and National Awards to include the Navy Medical Officer Recruiter of the Year in 1997, the

Association for Women’s Health & Neonatal Nurses (AWHONN) Junior Nurse of the Year in 2000, the Military Health System Nurse of the Year in 2020, and the DAISY Lifetime Achievement Award in 2021.

Her academic accomplishments include graduating with honors from the University of North Carolina with a Master’s Degree in Nursing; graduating with honors from California College of Health Sciences with a Masters Degree in Community Health; and graduating Summa Cum Lauda with a Doctorate of Nursing Practice Degree from Old Dominion

University. She has served as Adjunct Faculty for DUKE University and for the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences (USUHS).

A highlight of her Navy career was serving as the Nurse Midwife Specialty Advisor to the Surgeon General from 2009- 2012. During this time, she championed numerous initiatives which honored and advanced opportunities for women serving in uniform.

Upon closing out 35 years of honorable service, Dixie served in what she calls her “dream job”, as the Chief Nursing Officer of the Navy’s largest and premiere Academic Medical Center in Portsmouth, VA. During her tenure, she trained and prepared staff for their daily mission, as well as numerous Battlefield, Humanitarian and Natural Disaster deployments to

include several on the U. S. Navy Hospital Ship – USNS COMFORT. At the peak of the COVID-19 pandemic, Dixie deployed staff to support OPERATION GOTHAM in New York City. Throughout the pandemic, Dixie served as the Emergency Operations Plans Chief, working collaboratively with National, Regional and Local Agencies to carry out COVID-19 plans and operations. 

Dixie is married to WFHS graduate, Chad Aune. Together, they have three children.