Sgt. Kent "Doc" Byrd - TravelBug

     Kent “Doc” Byrd, aka JrByrdMan162 in the Geocaching world, is one amazing soldier and TravelBug.  Yep, you heard me.  He is an actual TB.  You will see more about the TB thing in this YouTube vid; first I want to tell you a little bit about the man.

    

     I found this story and went in search of more info on the guy but unfortunately I couldn’t find anything newer than late 2010 when he was based in Fort Lewis, so I will share what I have found.

     In the military world he is known as Sergeant Byrd, explosive ordnance disposal expert, part of the bomb squad.  In Iraq, the wide spread use of improvised explosive devices, or IED’s, has been devastating. When they're found, specially trained teams move in to defuse them.  Sgt. Kent Byrd is a member of of one of those teams. 

     What got him here ?   “"Unfortunately, a very, very dear friend of mine was in killed in Iraq by an IED," says Byrd. “I looked a little further into EOD (explosive ordnance disposal) and what they do, and I said this is my calling."  What helped in his being highly qualified and successful ?  Geocaching.  Prior to his enlisting in the military he was a firefighter, emergency medical responder and had been Geocaching for about 5 years.  Think about what it takes to find those hidden IED’s – think about caching – and then his description of Geocaching -

     "Seeing the things that are meant to be unseen," he says. "Geocaching - that's pretty much what the game is based on - is finding stuff, finding stuff that you know the average person is not going to see as they walk by it on a daily basis."

    Sgt. Byrd’s situational awareness, intuition and keen eye for the un-obvious has helped to save many lives in Iraq. 

Byrd lists his hobbies and interest as –

Anything that keeps the Hemo flowing and the heart rate growing. Rock climbing, Rappelling, SCUBA, hiking, backpacking, etc.. General Outdoors Enthusiast (Adrenaline Junky). If it's outdoors... I'M THERE!!!

And recruting his friends and fellow soldiers into Geocaching. 

Way to go Sgt. Kent “Doc” Byrd !

As always - we at Swag Hunters thanks our soldiers for all their hard work and dedication.