Josée Kurtz

Early Life and Education

Josée Kurtz completed her primary and secondary education in Joliette as well as pre-university studies at the local CEGEP. She became a sea cadet in 1984 and was a member of the Cadet Instructor Cadre in 1987–88. She then joined the RCN. While serving with the navy, she enrolled in a bachelor of arts program at the University of Ottawa, graduating in 2005. She attended the year-long Joint Command and Staff Program at the Canadian Forces College in Toronto from 2006 to 2007 and concurrently completed a master of defence studies degree from the Royal Military College of Canada (RMC), Kingston. She is married to retired Lieutenant-Commander John Kurtz.

Naval Career

Kurtz joined the RCN in 1988 and completed basic officer training at the Canadian Forces Officer Candidate School in Chilliwack, British Columbia. This was followed by initial naval training at the Naval Officer Training Centre (NOTC) at CFB Esquimalt, British Columbia, and promotion to acting sub-lieutenant in November 1989.

Between 1990 and 1992, Kurtz earned her bridge watchkeeping certificate in the operational support ship HMCS Provider, based in Esquimalt, and was promoted sublieutenant in May 1991. She specialized in navigation, completing the destroyer navigation officer course in 1992. She was promoted lieutenant (navy) in September 1992. Between 1992 and 1994, Kurtz served as navigation officer in the Halifax-based destroyer escort HMCS Nipigon and in the frigate NCSM Ville de Québec as part of its commissioning crew.

Kurtz’s navigational skills resulted in a tour as a navigation instructor at NOTC from 1994 to 1996. She completed the maritime advanced navigation officer course in 1995, the first and only woman to do so. This qualified her to return to sea in 1996 as navigation officer in the operational support ship HMCS Protecteur, based in Esquimalt. She next attended the operations room officer course in 1997–98. Kurtz was weapons officer in the Esquimalt-based frigate HMCS Vancouver from 1998 to 1999, followed by combat officer from 1999 to 2000. In 2000, she was appointed fleet navigation instructor at NOTC. Kurtz was promoted lieutenant-commander in May 2001 and appointed senior navigation officer.

In 2002, Kurtz was posted for a year to National Defence Headquarters (NDHQ) in Ottawa as an analyst in the directorate general Canadian Forces grievance authority. After obtaining her BA, Kurtz returned to NDHQ in 2005, where she was a desk officer for international operations in the directorate of maritime plans, operations and readiness.

In 2007, Kurtz became executive officer (second-in-command) in NCSM Ville de Québec. During that time, the ship deployed with Standing NATO Maritime Group (SNMG) 1, the alliance’s multinational, integrated maritime force in the Atlantic Ocean. Ville de Québec was diverted on short notice for an antipiracy escort mission with the United Nations World Food Programme off the Horn of Africa.

History-Making Commands

In April 2009, Kurtz was promoted commander and appointed commanding officer of the frigate HMCS Halifax, based at Halifax. It marked the first time a woman commanded a major warship. While Kurtz was in command, Halifax was deployed to Haiti to support the humanitarian assistance and disaster relief mission after the destructive January 2010 earthquake. (See also Canadian Peacekeepers in Haiti.)

In 2010, concurrent with her second year in command, Kurtz became the first woman chief of staff to the commander of the Canadian Fleet Atlantic in Halifax. In 2011, she was appointed commandant of the Canadian Forces Naval Operations School in Halifax. While there, Kurtz was promoted captain (navy) in June 2012; she then attended the year-long National Security Programme at the Canadian Forces College.

Kurtz returned to NDHQ, first as director of naval personnel and training (2013–16) and then as director of naval operations (2016–17). This was followed by appointment as team lead for The Journey, a project that developed a set of philosophies and guiding initiatives to improve flexibility for CAF members and their families during and after their military careers.

In October 2017, Kurtz was promoted commodore. She remained at NDHQ and became director general defence security. In June 2019, Kurtz achieved another milestone when she was appointed commander of SNMG2, the alliance’s fleet in the Mediterranean and Black Sea region; she was the first woman to command an SNMG.

In 2020, Kurtz returned to NDHQ and was appointed director general for the RCN’s COVID-19 response, followed by commander of cadets and junior Canadian rangers. In 2021, she became commandant and vice-chancellor of RMC, the first woman to hold this appointment.

In May 2023, Kurtz was promoted rear-admiral and on 20 June was appointed commander Maritime Forces Atlantic (MARLANT) in Halifax. MARLANT consists of a headquarters, Canadian Fleet Atlantic (15 warships, an operational support group, a sea training facility and a fleet diving unit), CFB Halifax, and a fleet maintenance facility. She is the first woman to command an RCN coastal formation.

As Commander MARLANT, Kurtz is concurrently commander Joint Task Force Atlantic, one of six CAF regional domestic task forces. As such, she is responsible to lead CAF operations in the four Atlantic provinces, as well as the region’s contiguous waters and its airspace, including search and rescue and fisheries protection. Kurtz also serves as the maritime component commander within Canadian Joint Operations Command.

Honours and Awards

Military (in order of precedence):

• Officer of the Order of Military Merit (2016)
• Meritorious Service Cross (2021)
• South-West Asia Service Medal with Afghanistan bar (2008)
• Operational Service Medal – Humanitas (Haiti, 2010)
• Special Service Medal with NATO bar (2020)
• NATO Article 5 Medal (2008)
• Queen Elizabeth II Diamond Jubilee Medal (2012)
• Canadian Forces Decoration (2000) with two clasps (2010, 2020)
• NATO Meritorious Service Medal (2020)
• Chief of the Defence Staff Commendations (2008, 2010)

Other (in chronological order):

• Lord Strathcona Medal Top Cadet (1987)
• Women Executive Network Canada’s Top 100 Most Powerful Women – Trailblazers & Trendsetters Award (2010)
• Esprit de Corps Magazine Top Women in Defence (2021)