After basic naval officer training, he studied Economics and Business Administration at the Bundeswehr University of Munich.

Selected for the Admiral Staff Officer Course at the Führungsakademie der Bundeswehr it was during this course that he was promoted to Korvettenkapitän (corvette captain).

During the next two years he again served at the Ministry of Defense within the Navy Staff and was responsible for general issues, logistics and procurement.

In 1994 he studied at the Defence Resources Management Institute (DRMI) of the Naval Postgraduate School in Monterey, California.

[1] On 28 March 2012, Kühn handed over his post to Manfred Nielson, his retirement from military service marked by a Großer Zapfenstreich.