John Batiste
A retired U.S. Army Major General, John Batiste has been president of Klein Steel Services since 2005. Klein Steel, based in Rochester, New York, is the premier distributor and processor of metals with customers all over the United States.
Major General Batiste was commissioned as an infantry officer in 1974. Over the next 31 years, he served in a variety of leadership and staff positions, including platoon, company, battalion, brigade, and division command. His major combat and peace keeping experience included deployments to Saudi Arabia and Iraq during Operations Desert Shield and Storm, to Bosnia-Herzegovina during the Implementation Force mission, and again to Kuwait and Iraq during Operation Iraqi Freedom 2.
Major General Batiste’s final assignment in the Army was as commanding general of the 1st Infantry Division. The division conducted successful peace enforcement operations in Kosovo and combat operations in Iraq. The division combat team was deployed to north-central Iraq and included 22,000 soldiers from active and reserve component units from throughout the United States.
Major General Batiste is a graduate of the United States Military Academy and the Army War College. He also earned a master’s degree in financial management from the Naval Postgraduate School in Monterey, California. He serves on the New York State Veterans Affairs Commission; is a board member of the Rochester-based Veterans Outreach Center and the Association for the Blind and Visually Impaired, Goodwill Industries; and is the president of the Rochester Regional Veterans Business Council.
