Rear Adm. John Byington hails from a naval aviation family and Daytona Beach, Florida. He graduated with merit from the U.S. Naval Academy in 1990 where he concurrently completed a Master of Arts in National Security from the Georgetown University School of Foreign Service. He graduated with highest distinction from the Naval War College in 1999 and earned a Master’s in Business Administration from Harvard Business School in 2002.

After duty aboard USS John Hancock (DD-981) and subsequent flight training, he joined the HS-7 “Dusty Dogs” in 1993, deploying twice to the Mediterranean, Adriatic, and Arabian Gulf and piloting SH-3H Sea King and SH-60F/H Seahawk helicopters. In 1997, he served on the Naval Academy’s faculty before separating in 2000 to earn his MBA. As the Iraq War began, he joined the Navy Reserve (NR), and qualified as an intelligence officer in 2005.

Mobilized 2008-9, he served in Balad, Iraq as Deputy Director and Acting Director of Intelligence (J2) for the joint special operations forces’ headquarters focused on counterinsurgency. He returned to NR Navy Central Command Intelligence 0174 as XO and Acting Commanding Officer. He concurrently served on active duty, standing up USCYBERCOM’s Guard and Reserve Matters Office (J15) to coordinate six service components’ support at the new four-star command. He was the first reserve intelligence officer to lead a cryptologic major command later named national unit of the year. He then served as executive officer of the Navy Reserve’s largest intelligence unit.

His command tours include NR Joint Intelligence Center Central Command 0382, NR Defense Intelligence Agency 1006, NR Naval Information Operations Command Texas, and Naval Information Force Reserve Region Southeast, where he led 1,950 Sailors in 24 units across ten states or territories. In 2022, he served as Deputy Chief of Staff for Strategic Plans and then Chief of Staff for Naval Information Force Reserve’s 8,000+ Sailors in 150 units nationwide. In a Flag assignment, he is serving as Reserve Deputy Commander, Fleet Cyber Command / Navy Space Command / 10th Fleet, Fort Meade, MD.

Byington qualified as an Information Warfare Officer, Naval Aviator, Naval Parachutist, Small Boat Craftmaster, and a Joint Qualified Officer. He is a sub-specialist in Naval Strategy, Political-Military Affairs, Resource Analysis, and Undersea Warfare, and is a GE certified Six Sigma Black Belt. In addition to various campaign, unit, and personal awards, he received the Sikorsky Life Saving Rescue, Naval War College Outstanding Graduate, and the Naval Information Force Reserve’s highest Mentorship and Teamwork awards. He is a performance improvement and data science executive in information services, improving DOD/IC performance.

Last Updated: 20 February 2024