Ryan Job was born in Washington state in March 1981. He was raised in Issaquah, Washington, and attended Issaquah High School. After graduation, he enrolled in the University of Washington, where he studied for three years before joining the Navy in 2002. He began boot camp in December of that year in Great Lakes, Illinois, and graduated in February 2003.
Job completed several training courses after boot camp. He attended the Aviation Ordnanceman School in Pensacola, Florida, and completed the Basic Underwater Demolition/SEAL training, SEAL Qualification Training, Basic Airborne Training and Naval Special Warfare Advanced Training. His extensive SEAL training qualified him to join SEAL Team Three, which was based in the Naval Amphibious Base Coronado in California, in 2005.
With Task Unit Bruiser, Job deployed to Ramadi, Iraq, a year later. During his service, he took part in several combat and shaping operations. In August, while providing security for allied forces, he was shot and blinded by a sniper, forcing him to medically retire from the Navy on March 31, 2007. Job underwent several surgeries in military hospitals in Maryland, Florida and California to help mitigate his injuries.
Despite the incident in Iraq, Job continued to lead a life filled with service and success. It’s also when he married Kelly Lester, whom he had met earlier in his life through mutual friends. With the support of the Sentinels of Freedom Scholarship Foundation, which supports severely injured Veterans, the couple moved to Arizona, where they pursued education. Job also served in a nonprofit organization seeking to help Veterans.
In September 2009, Job died from complications after an surgical operation. He was 28 years old. In addition to his mother, grandmother and wife—who was pregnant at that time—Job is survived by a brother, Aaron, who had also served in Iraq, and a sister, Kelsie. Both his family members and his friends remember him as a strong and determined man, with one friend stating, “he didn’t back down from any challenge,” and a neighbor suggesting, “his goal was to be a Navy SEAL and it didn’t matter how hard it was.”
We honor his service.
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We honor his service.