William Declan Byrne Jr. is a retired

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage ...

rear admiral Rear admiral is a senior naval flag officer rank, equivalent to a major general and air vice marshal and above that of a commodore and captain, but below that of a vice admiral. It is regarded as a two star "admiral" rank. It is often regarde ...

who last served as director of warfare development (N72) in the Office of the Chief of Naval Operations. He previously served as the vice director of the

Joint Staff The Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) is the body of the most senior uniformed leaders within the United States Department of Defense, that advises the president of the United States, the secretary of defense, the Homeland Security Council and the ...

. Byrne also served as the 85th Commandant of Midshipmen of the

United States Naval Academy The United States Naval Academy (US Naval Academy, USNA, or Navy) is a federal service academy in Annapolis, Maryland. It was established on 10 October 1845 during the tenure of George Bancroft as Secretary of the Navy. The Naval Academy ...

from May 2013 to June 2015. Byrne attended the

, graduating in 1987 with a B.S. degree in political science. While there, he was a record-setting starting

quarterback The quarterback (commonly abbreviated "QB"), colloquially known as the "signal caller", is a position in gridiron football. Quarterbacks are members of the offensive platoon and mostly line up directly behind the offensive line. In modern Ame ...

for three football seasons. Byrne later earned an M.S. degree in National Resource Strategy from the

Industrial College of the Armed Forces The Dwight D. Eisenhower School for National Security and Resource Strategy (Eisenhower School), formerly known as the Industrial College of the Armed Forces (ICAF), is a part of the National Defense University. It was renamed on September 6, 20 ...

in 2004.

Awards and decorations

In 2015, Byrne was selected as a co-recipient of the Distinguished American Award by the National Football Foundation and

College Football Hall of Fame The College Football Hall of Fame is a hall of fame and interactive attraction devoted to college football. The National Football Foundation (NFF) founded the Hall in 1951 to immortalize the players and coaches of college football that were vote ...

References

Year of birth uncertain Living people Navy Midshipmen football players United States Naval Academy alumni Dwight D. Eisenhower School for National Security and Resource Strategy alumni United States Navy admirals Recipients of the Defense Superior Service Medal Recipients of the Legion of Merit {{USN-bio-stub

Awards and decorations

See also

References