Captain Kirsten Rutledge was born and raised in Orinda, California and earned her Bachelor’s of Science in Kinesiology from Cal Poly Pomona. While at university she played varsity volleyball and participated in Army ROTC all four years. In 2015, she graduated and commissioned into the Army Signal Corps.

CPT Rutledge’s first duty assignment was at the Southwest Asia Regional Cyber Center (SWACC) in Camp Arifjan, Kuwait as Watch Officer/ Operations Officer in Charge (OIC). Following that 13 month tour and a season on the 2017 All-Army Volleyball team, she was reassigned to the 44th Expeditionary Signal Battalion (ESB) in Grafenwoehr (now 44th ESB-E in Baumholder), Germany. There she performed the duties of Platoon Leader, Executive Officer, and Network Plans Officer for the only ESB in Europe. CPT Rutledge then attended Signal Captains Career Course at Ft Gordon, GA. Immediately upon graduating, she deployed to Afghanistan for one year as the Assistant CJ6 for NATO Special Operations Component Command – Afghanistan and Special Operations Joint Task Force – Afghanistan.

CPT Rutledge returned to Grafenwoehr, Germany and took command of HHC, USAG-Bavaria from May 2021 to April 2023. Her current assignment is Assistant Professor of Military Science at the University of California - Davis.

CPT Rutledge’s awards and decorations include the Bronze Star Medal, Meritorious Service Medal, Army Commendation Medal (1OLC), Joint Service Achievement Medal (with C-Device), Army Achievement Medal (1OLC), and the Expert Soldier Badge.