Sean Averell Pybus

Vice Admiral Sean Averell Pybus was born into a family of sailors on 22 September 1957 in Havre de Grace, Maryland. His family and two siblings later moved to Stillwater, Oklahoma, in 1969.

Pybus was a superior high school student athlete who successfully pursued a college NROTC scholarship. He graduated from Stillwater’s C.E. Donart High School in 1975 and enrolled in the University of Rochester (NY). He graduated in 1979 with a BA in Economics, a regular Navy Commission, and was the only graduate to receive orders for the Navy’s Basic Underwater Demolition/SEAL (BUDS) training course.

He graduated BUDS Class 105 in December 1979 as one of 50 graduates from an initial class of 160. He took pride in being the Squad and Boat Crew Leader and one of the three fastest students on the infamous BUDS Obstacle Course.

Training and command assignments continued with Seal Team 2 and Underwater Demolition Team 12 and then orders to SEAL Team 6 in Norfolk, VA.

In 1985, Pybus was the Ground Commander in Sigonella, Italy for the Achille Lauro operation, which became one of the first successful Counter-Terror efforts by the elite US Special Operations Forces. In 1998, Pybus was a distinguished graduate of the Naval War College earning a master’s degree in Strategic Studies.

Pybus served with distinction in multiple Joint Special Operations worldwide from Latin America, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, and Asia. From 2011 to 2013, as head of Naval Special Warfare Command, he was the commander of all Navy SEALs. He would conclude his 34-year career as Deputy Commander, US Special Operations Command.

VADM Pybus received 21 major decorations and awards. They include the Defense Distinguished Service Award, Navy Distinguished Service Medal, and multiple awards of the Defense Superior Service Medal, Legion of Merit and the Defense Meritorious Service Medal.

After retirement, Pybus serves on the Board of the Navy Seal Foundation, serving as its chairman in 2019.