ADM Kurt Tidd, USN (ret.) last served as the Commander, United States Southern Command. Prior to that assignment, Tidd served as Assistant to the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. He also served as the Director for Operations, Joint Staff (J-3), and as Commander, United States Naval Forces Southern Command and United States Fourth Fleet. He is a 1978 Naval Academy graduate, and holds a Masters in Political Science from the University of Bordeaux.