Dyke was born in Forest Grove, Oregon and graduated from Oregon State University in June 1978 with a degree in agriculture. He was commissioned in the Marines as a 2nd Lieutenant and completed basic training at Quantico in December 1978, followed by the Naval Flight training course in Pensacola, Florida in May 1980, and training in the CH-46 at Tustin, California in June. Completing his course there, Dyke then joined the headquarters of U.S. Naval Forces Europe based in London. In July 2001 Dyke was assigned to Henderson Hall as Branch Head of the Joint Staff Branch.