The story of Kurtz' life before he enlisted with the New Nevada Rangers is sketchy, at best, but it is known for certain that he was born in the old state of Colorado, in the military complex known as NORAD. His childhood and teenage years are mysteries, known only to Kurtz and those few others that might have shared those years with him. For whatever reasons, Kurtz left his home of NORAD at the age of seventeen, and found his way to New Nevada.
At first, Kurtz made his home in Las Vegas, doing odd jobs and using his knack for repairing machinery to eke out a living. He kept to himself mostly, traveling out into the wasteland, learning what survival skills he could. Eventually, as he saved money from his work, he began funding small trips to pre-war sites, ruins left over from the war. These trips usually included only Kurtz, and would last for days. Often, Kurtz would return from these trips with little more than a growing knowledge of the topography. Occasionally he would return with some small remnant of the pre-war world, such as a worn book or a piece of machinery
that needed a bit of work. After three years of taking these trips into the wasteland, Kurtz decided it was time for some greater challenge. He sold a majority of his pre-war collection to fund this greater trip, and packed the remainder of his belongings into an old surplus army pack. After saying goodbye to those few friends he had made within the city, Kurtz struck out, heading northwest.
After several days travel, Kurtz finally came upon his destination - the ruins of the old Cochise Base. After setting up camp, he spent many more days exploring the wreckage of the firebombed base, studying it for no reason other than his own curiosity. After scavenging what he could, Kurtz packed up his belongings, and left the destroyed base, heading to the south. During this time, a younger Kurtz bounced from settlement to settlement; making what living he could, parlaying his talents for room and board. In his travels, he began to hear of a group called the New Nevada Desert Rangers, and heard tales of their origins being linked with the pre-war U.S. Army Engineers. To this end, he sought out their headquarters, an old prison situated between two mountain peaks.
Upon reaching the old prison, Kurtz signed up, eager to put his skill and talent with machinery to use, helping to repair the Center, and then the remainder of the world. At first a relative unknown private, Kurtz took up repairing parts of the center in his spare time, and eventually became the resident technician of the Rangers. On one assignment, where he was repairing the roof of the guard-post at the Ranger Outpost, he was involved in a rather strange battle, which ended with the young ranger shooting the leader of the Badland Originals, and in turn lost his left forearm to a spray of machinegun fire. Afterwards, for his actions in battle, and around the Center, Kurtz was promoted to Sergeant. He maintained this position for a long while, and continued his repair duties with only one hand. Several months later, Kurtz left the Center with a passing caravan on a leave-of absence, and returned nearly two moths later, a cybernetic prosthetic in place of his missing left forearm. Stories tell that during his leave, Kurtz returned to his home of NORAD, where he obtained the prosthesis, but little valid information has been revealed.
What is known is that Kurtz remained in his post with the Rangers, and was promoted to the rank of 2nd Lieutenant after the departure of his Commanding Officer (and friend) Bryan Drake. In the interim, Kurtz took up responsibility for the maintenance of the Ranger's few working vehicles, and also began training a few other rangers in maintenance and repair techniques. Then, Lt. Col. Rylen Gray, who was presently the head of the Rangers, departed, leaving the organization leaderless. At this point, Kurtz made a bid for the leadership of the Rangers. He ended up in an election against Private Gustavo, whose disreputable actions ended up
costing him the election. A whirlwind of events took place right before the election, involving Private Gustavo trying to bribe Kurtz to withdraw from the election. In the end, Kurtz won out, becoming the General of the New Nevada Rangers.
Since taking the leadership of the Rangers as his own, Kurtz has begun a rebuilding process, using his technical knowledge and his newly acquired manpower to clean up and restore parts of the Ranger Center. Also, the new General trains regularly with his own soldiers, and seems to be pushing himself to be an example of strength to his men.