Master Chief Boatswain's Mate (BMCM) Sherman Byrd was the first African American Explosive Ordnance Disposal Technician.
BMCM Byrd graduated from NAVSCOLEOD in Indian Head, Maryland with Class 04B-58 in 1958. BMCM Byrd was well liked and respected in the community. He was a model Navy EOD Technician. BMCM Byrd routinely worked with the United States Secret Service helping to protect four Presidents of the United States, President Dwight D. Eisenhower, President John F. Kennedy, President Lyndon B. Johnson and President Richard Nixon. On September 25, 2009, the Navy dedicated the Explosive Ordnance Disposal Training Evaluation Unit Two facility at Fort Story, Virginia Beach, Virginia, in his honor.
