Romaine Byrd

Romaine Byrd spent 22.5 years in the service, both active duty and reserves in the Army. He was a mechanic, working on 7 tons and Humvees as well as some track vehicles. He also spent 14 years as a recruiter, working 70–80-hour weeks. Romaine enjoyed helping young adults, who were like him as a youth. He grew up without a father and his mom died when he was young. He spent the first few years of his enlistment sending his paychecks home to his younger sisters for their survival. Romaine transitioned out of the Army on March 1, 2018, and found the TAPS program very underwhelming. It did little to aid his transition and he felt it failed other service men and women transition out to the civilian sector. Because of this, Romaine started working with “Hire Heroes,” which he says is TAPS 2.0