Rear Adm. Kurt Mole is a native of Bowie, Maryland. He enlisted in the Navy in 1988 as a Cryptologic Technician (Interpretive) and completed training at the Defense Language Institute in Monterey, California.

He graduated and commissioned as a Surface Warfare Officer from the U.S. Naval Academy in 1995 with a Bachelor of Science in Economics and minor in Chinese. He also holds an Information Systems Certificate from the Naval Postgraduate School, a Master of Business Administration from National University, and a Master of Arts in National Security and Strategic Studies from the Naval War College.

At sea, he served as a Surface Warfare Officer aboard USS Leftwich (DD 984) and at Assault Craft Unit 5 as Officer-in-Charge of a detachment of Landing Craft Air Cushion. Following his re-designation as a Cryptologic Warfare Officer, he served as the Information Warfare team leader for the Constellation and Carl Vinson (CVN 70) Carrier Strike Groups; the senior cryptologist for Kitty Hawk Carrier Strike Group; the Information Warfare Commander for Ronald Reagan Carrier Strike Group; and the Information Operations Officer for U.S. 7th Fleet embarked the Blue Ridge-class amphibious command ship USS Blue Ridge (LCC 19). He has completed multiple deployments to the Arabian Gulf and Western Pacific.

His duties ashore included Mission Director at the Aerospace Data Facility-Colorado; Executive Officer at Navy Information Operations Command (NIOC) Whidbey Island and NIOC Maryland; Head of Information Warfare Community Enlisted Assignments at Navy Personnel Command; Director’s Fellow at the National Security Agency; Senior Operations Officer at the National Security Operations Center; Deputy Chief, NSA/CSS Cybersecurity Threat Operations Center; and Commanding Officer of NSA/CSS Hawaii.

As a flag officer, Rear Adm. Mole served as Deputy Commander, Navy Space Command, and subsequently as Deputy Commander, Fleet Cyber Command and Deputy Commander, Joint Force Headquarters – Cyber (Navy). He assumed command of Fleet Information Warfare Command – Pacific in July 2026.

Last Updated: 22 July 2026