Richard Eric Ross was born in 1971 to working class parents in Muncie, Indiana. I had a normal childhood, excelled in school and competed in several sports including at the state level in swimming.

In high school, I was elected president of the school’s Science Club and vice president of the French Club. Though I was accepted at West Point Military Academy and Colorado Springs Air Force Academy, I chose to join the Navy instead and attended Boot Camp in August 1989. I did well, graduating in the top of my class in gun school, but I couldn’t finish SEAL training after fracturing my hips in a training accident. By the age of 19, I was given secret clearance and top-secret clearance by age 28.

My 12 year career in the military consisted of deployments to Kuwait, and the 32nd Street Naval Station in San Diego, California, and multiple ship deployments around the world including the Persian Gulf. During this time I earned many awards including three Naval Achievement Medals and a Good Conduct Award.

After becoming an enlisted Surface Warfare Specialist and a Weapons and Tactics Instructor, I was given command of a small arms range, an armory, and the training of 180 security force members at the Naval Weapons Station, Seal Beach, California.

As the station’s Range Master, I supervised the training of over 8,000 local, state, and federal law enforcement agents in small arms and tactics, including the Los Angeles Police Department, US Immigration and Customs Enforcement, US Secret Service, and many other law-enforcement organizations. I eventually left the Navy in October 2001 with 30% disability as a Gunners Mate Petty Officer First Class (E-6).

Because I’d taken several real estate classes part time at Long Beach City College and obtained a Certificate in Real Estate, I was able to get my Real Estate Sales Person’s License and then my Real Estate Broker’s License which let me work as a Realtor in residential and commercial properties over the next five years. By 2006, I started developing large luxury real estate projects in Southern California and Arizona, but lost everything in the housing crash of 2008.

I went back to school and obtained my Associates of Science in Aviation: Professional Pilot and my Bachelors of Science in Real Estate Magna Cum Laude from San Diego State University on May 19, 2012. Unfortunately, it was just two days later that I was blindsided by the plan to put me away for life.