William D. Byrne

Rear Admiral William Byrne retired from the Navy in August of 2022 after 35 years of service. His final assignments in the military were at the Pentagon as the Director of Warfare Development for the Chief of Naval Operations where he developed the Navy strategy and ensured alignment of the Navy budget to that strategy; and as Vice Director of the Joint Staff where he directed the day-to-day operation of the Joint Staff, a diverse organization of 2,000 civilian and military members that formulates the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff’s advice on military matters to the Secretary of Defense and the President of the United States.

Rear Admiral Byrne served in the Navy as a Surface Warfare Officer, making several worldwide deployments on his many ships. Highlights in uniform include commanding both a frigate and a cruiser and leading a tremendously successful combat deployment as Commander of Carrier Strike Group ELEVEN and the NIMITZ Strike Group. He served in a variety of duty stations across the United States, and also overseas in Guam, Japan and the Republic of Korea where he was Commander of U.S. Naval Forces Korea.

Born in San Francisco to Irish immigrants, Rear Admiral Byrne grew up in nearby Pacifica, California, and became a first-generation college student, graduating from the United States Naval Academy in 1987. He later earned a Master’s degree from the National Defense University. An avid fitness enthusiast and life-long sports junky, he learned early the key traits of competitiveness, toughness and resilience through his participation in year-round team sports. Rear Admiral Byrne was a record-setting quarterback and football team captain at the Naval Academy and was honored in 2015 by the National Football Foundation with their Distinguished American Award. His wife, Amy, is a Naval Academy classmate and fellow varsity athlete. Four of their five children are also Naval Academy graduates and former varsity athletes and are all serving proudly in the Fleet.