Chief Warrant Officer Five (CW5) Stephen R. Boyd was born and raised in the Dorchester neighborhood of Boston. He enlisted in the Massachusetts Army National Guard in April 1984 as a Private First Class. In September 1988, he transferred to Fort Rucker, Alabama to reclassify as a UH-1 Huey Mechanic. In August 1989 he began the Aviation Warrant Officer Flight Training Program and graduated in August 1990. Boyd also holds the distinction of being the first African American soldier to achieve the rank of CW5. He is currently employed as a Safety and Occupational Health Specialist for the Department of Defense in Vicenza, Italy.