Biography
Commanding Officer, Marine Fighter Attack Squadron 323
Lieutenant Colonel Seth Byrum

Lieutenant Colonel Seth Byrum was born in Fort Belvoir, VA and graduated from G.C. Marshall High School in 2001. At Texas A&M University, he attended Officer Candidates School, Platoon Leaders Courses and after graduating with a Bachelor of Science in Civil Engineering, he was commissioned a Second Lieutenant in December of 2005. He graduated The Basic School with Company B-06 and transitioned to flight training in Pensacola, FL. 

He completed flight school training in Pensacola, FL, Corpus Christi, TX and earned his wings in April of 2009 in Kingsville, TX. After completion of flight training, First Lieutenant Byrum joined VFA-106 at NAS Oceana for initial F/A-18 training.

In the summer of 2010, Captain Byrum was assigned to VMFA(AW)-533, at MCAS Beaufort where his billets included scheduling officer, Powerline officer, and embarkation officer. During this tour, Captain Byrum deployed to the Western Pacific in support of the Unit Deployment Program in 2011 and 2013.

In the fall of 2013, Captain Byrum attended the Tactical Air Control Party course and was assigned to 3d Battalion, 8th Marine Regiment aboard Camp Lejeune, NC where he served as Air Officer and Assistant Operations Officer. During this tour, he deployed to Mihal Kogalniceanu, Romania supporting the Black Sea Rotational Force 14.2 as their forward air controller.

Upon return from deployment in 2014, Captain Byrum was assigned to VMFA(AW)-224 and attended the Weapons Tactics Instructor and Marine Division Tactics Instructor courses. As the squadron Pilot Training Officer he deployed to the Western Pacific in support of the UDP.

At the beginning of 2017, Major Byrum was reported to 75 Squadron as the USMC F/A-18 exchange pilot with the Royal Australian Air Force aboard RAAF Base Tindal in the Northern Territory of Australia. During this tour, he served as the B Flight Commander and squadron assistant Fighter Combat Instructor, executing multiple detachments across Australia, the Indo-Pacific, and Canada.

In the summer of 2019, Major Byrum was assigned to VMFA-115 where he served as Executive Officer, Operations Officer, and Aircraft Maintenance Officer and again deployed to the Western Pacific in support of the UDP, Kuopio, Finland for Marine Rotational Force Europe, and the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia in support of Operation Inherent Resolve.

During the summer of 2022, Lieutenant Colonel Byrum was assigned to MAG-11 at MCAS Miramar. He is married to the former Brandi Skipper of Waxahachie, TX. They have two children, Banks (13) and Knox (11).

Lieutenant Colonel Byrum’s personal awards include the Navy and Marine Corps Commendation Medal (Second Award), Navy and Marine Corps Achievement Medal, and the Sea Service Deployment Ribbon (Sixth Award).