MILLINGTON, Tenn. — Petty Officer 2nd Class Kylia Byas was recently named Sailor of the Year of 2025 for Navy Medicine Readiness and Training Command (NMRTC) Camp Pendleton, California. Byas’s grandparents, Johnny and Evelyn Kennard, live in Rockdale, Texas.
Sailor of the Year is an award given to an enlisted sailor who demonstrates sustained superior performance, leadership and professionalism.
Byas is a 2014 graduate of Spring High School. Additionally, Byas earned an associate degree in health sciences from Thomas Edison State University in 2022 and an associate degree in respiratory therapy from Uniformed Services University in 2023.
The skills and values needed to succeed in the Navy are similar to those found in Rockdale.
“A lot of who I am comes from my grandfather,” Byas said. “He instilled in me the spirit of helping others, my history and background, and he taught me that I could do anything if I worked hard enough for it. I was also in Navy Junior ROTC in high school, and my instructors taught me so much about what it means to be a leader. I still rely on their lessons to this day.”
Byas has served in the Navy for 11 years.
“I joined the Navy to travel, gain experience in the medical field, and pursue something bigger than myself,” Byas said.
Today, Byas serves as a hospital corpsman with Expeditionary Medical Facility (EMF) 150 Alpha, a subordinate unit of NMRTC Camp Pendleton, which carries out its mission to maximize warfighter performance and enhance the readiness of the medical force.
EMF 150 Alpha is comprised of more than 400 personnel, including medical providers, security managers and food service personnel. The command essentially functions as a role 3 hospital, designed to provide in-theater hospitalization with up to 150 beds and able to perform similar health care facility functions wherever EMF 150 Alpha is set up.
NMRTC Camp Pendleton is comprised predominantly of military members who support Naval Hospital Camp Pendleton. The command supports overall Navy and Marine Corps readiness by training military command members to ensure they are ready to deploy and provide medical support to various operational Navy and Marine units deployed, ashore or at sea.
Navy Medicine – represented by more than 44,000 highly-trained military and civilian health care professionals – provides enduring expeditionary medical support to the warfighter on, below, and above the sea, and ashore.
This year, the Navy is commemorating its contribution to the nation’s defense as the United States celebrates 250 years of independence.
According to Navy officials, for more than 250 years, the Navy has sailed the globe defending freedom and protecting prosperity.
With 90% of global commerce traveling by sea and access to the internet relying on the security of undersea fiber optic cables, Navy officials continue to emphasize that the prosperity of the United States is directly linked to recruiting and retaining talented people from across the rich fabric of America.
Byas has many opportunities to achieve accomplishments while serving in the military.
“I am most proud of being able to balance being a mother and a sailor,” Byas said. “I’m also proud of being able to assist my sailors in accomplishing their goals. Seeing them succeed in their own endeavors makes everything else worth it.”
Byas serves a Navy that operates far forward, around the world and around the clock, promoting the nation’s prosperity and security.
“Serving in the Navy, and specifically as a hospital corpsman, means a lot to me,” Byas said. “Being of service to my sailors, peers, and patients gets me through the daily challenges and obstacles we face in our careers. It’s being able to make an impact that provides a sense of fulfillment for me.”
Byas is grateful to others for helping make a Navy career possible.
“I want to thank my mother, Jenita Constantine, and my dad, Jeffrey Constantine, may he rest in peace,” Byas said. “I’ve relied on them a lot these past few years, and I wouldn’t be able to stay afloat without the support they’ve provided.”
More information is available here: https://www.navy.mil/navy-250/.