Ryan spent his youth moving around the United States and overseas, but claims Nashville, Tennessee as home. In 1998, His first assignment was as to 3-325 Airborne Infantry Regiment (A.I.R.) at Fort Bragg, NC. As a Captain, Ryan was assigned to the 2nd Brigaded Combat Team (BCT), 1st Armored Division. While deployed to Baghdad, Iraq, Ryan took command of Alpha Company, First Battalion, Sixth Infantry (1-6 IN).
Upon promotion to Major, Ryan became a Finance officer was assigned to the 175th Financial Management Center (FMC) in Seoul, South Korea. He returned to the United States to attend the Command and General Staff College (CGSC) at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas. Before deploying to Afghanistan as a member of the USFOR-A J8, serving in Regional Command North (Mazar I Sharif) and Regional Command Capital (Kabul) as the Area Support Team Resource Manager. On redeployment he was assigned to United States Army Africa (USARAF) G8 in Vicenza, Italy where he deployed to Liberia as the J8 for Joint Force Command (JFC) - Operation United Assistance. From there he was assigned to the 8th Theater Sustainment Command (TSC) at Fort Shafter, HI as the G8.
He left the 8th TSC to attend the United States Army War College (USAWC) and was subsequently assigned to United States Forces Korea (USFK) as the Deputy J8. In June 2022, he transitioned from Fort Belvoir where he had been the G8 for INSCOM to become an Instructor at the Dwight D. Eisenhower School. He has a Bachelor of Science Degree from the United States Military Academy, and Master of Public Administration from University of Tennessee, and Master of Strategic Studies from the Army War College.