Cmdr. Kurt Kesteloot, USPHS, received his U.S. Public Health Service commission in 2004 and served with the Indian Health Service (IHS) from 2004 to 2010. He started as a junior  environmental engineer with the Navajo Area IHS in Many Farms, Ariz. He also worked in Winslow and Tuba City, Ariz., for the Navajo Area IHS designing and constructing water and wastewater sanitation facilities.

He deployed aboard USNS Comfort (T-AH-20) on a humanitarian mission in 2009 and deployed to the Navajo Nation in 2020 to help with water and sewer sanitation. He has also had four National Park Service (NPS) deployments for hurricanes and events as a safety officer and engineer.

He has worked for the NPS since 2010 and currently serves as a supervisory public health consultant. He provides technical assistance to 62 National Park units in 13 states through assessments of water and wastewater facilities along with design and design review, also assessing food facilities and providing guidance on many other public health-related issues. 

He also supervises four USPHS officers and is the Lead for NPS Engineering questions in the NPS Office of Public Health Field Services Branch.

In 2017, he served as the Engineer Professional Advisory Committee (EPAC) chair, serving  approximately 400 engineers (20 voting members). He continues to support EPAC by reviewing awards and applications for new EPAC voting members.

He is a professionally registered civil engineer for the states of Arizona, Arkansas, and Nebraska, holds a Certificate in Public Health (through NBPHE), and is a board-certified Environmental Engineer (through AAEES). He also has a certificate from Envision as a Sustainability Professional (ENV SP).