Captain Robert Watt

Captain (Navy) Watt joined the Regular Force as an officer cadet in 1986, graduating from Royal Roads Military College in Victoria in 1990. Upon successful completion of Naval officer training he volunteered for Submarine service, and served in the Oberon-class submarines ONONDAGA, OJIBWA, and OKANAGAN from 1991 to 1994. He successfully challenged the Clearance Diving preliminary course in 1994 and was selected for training as an EOD Diving Officer, graduating in 1995.

In 1997 he was selected for a Post-Graduate scholarship at the Royal Military College in Kingston, receiving a Master’s Degree in War Studies in 1999. In 2000 he was selected for an exchange diving position with the Royal Navy. During his four years with the RN he served as Operations Officer of HMS LEDBURY, and as Executive Officer of HMS QUORN, both Hunt-class mine hunters. He carried out numerous live mineclearance operations in the Baltic and North Seas, and deployed as part of the multi-national NATO MCMFORNORTH. While in the UK he also deployed as OIC of a British Clearance Diving Team to Dubai and Oman, carrying out counter-terrorist security operations in support of Op ORACLE. He was then posted to the frigate HMCS VANCOUVER, where he served as Combat Officer, and successfully challenged his Surface Ship Command Board in 2006.

In 2007 he was appointed Commanding Officer of Fleet Diving Unit (Pacific), and served two years during a busy period of international training commitments, as well as security preparations for the Vancouver Winter Olympics. From 2009 to 2010 he was deployed to Afghanistan as part of the ISAF Counter-Improvised Explosive Device team, leading four teams carrying out counter-IED network operations throughout the country. Upon his return to Canada he served with the Counter-IED Task Force at National Defence HQ, and then completed the year-long Joint Command and Staff Programme at Canadian Forces College in Toronto. In 2014 he was selected to return to the Fleet and assumed Command of the guided-missile destroyer HMCS IROQUOIS.  In 2015, he was posted to South Korea, serving for three years as Chief of Staff of UNCMAC, monitoring the Demilitarized Zone and the 1953 Korean Armistice. While serving there in 2016 he was selected by UN Command to be the first Allied officer to conduct direct negotiations with North Korean military officials in over four years. Following his deployment to Korea, he returned to Canada and assumed duties as the Asian Pacific and Latin America region J3 at the Canadian Joint Operations Command in Ottawa.

Capt(N) Watt was promoted to his current rank in 2021 and served as Canadian Defence Attaché in Tokyo from 2022-2025. He is assumed his current position as RCN Director of Naval Strategy in 2025.