US Army Captain Ronald Fry, a third-generation veteran, served in the 82nd Airborne Division and as a Special Forces team leader in Afghanistan. Fry grew up in Diamond Bar, California and attended Brigham Young University on an Army ROTC scholarship. Fry graduated with a degree in Business Management from the Marriott School of Management and earned a commission as a 2nd Lieutenant in the United States Army. While attending BYU, Fry took two years to serve as a missionary for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints in France and Switzerland.
Fry and his wife, Rebecca would embark on a military career that began in 1996 shortly after graduation. Fry served as an infantry officer in the 82nd Airborne Division from 1997 to 2001 which included a deployment to Kosovo. After Special Forces selection, he trained to take on the role of a Special Forces team leader. Transferring to the 19th Special Forces Group, Fry served as a team leader during a 2003-2004 deployment to Eastern Afghanistan where his team, codenamed “Hammerhead Six”, would embark on an experiment in unconventional warfare in the Pech Valley. HAMMERHEAD SIX is based primarily on this experience. During his 8 years of active service, Fry completed Airborne, Air Assault, Infantry Officers Basic Course, Pathfinder, Ranger, Jumpmaster, Special Forces Qualification, Special Forces Underwater Operations (Combat Diver), Survival Resistance Evasion and Escape, and Mandarin language trainings. Fry would leave the service in 2005.
After leaving military service, Fry has taken the lessons learned in leadership and unconventional warfare and applied those in commerce. Working in the medical device industry in sales and sales management Fry found success in the Pacific Northwest and in Northern California. Fry started a medical device sales company in 2009 and sold that business in 2014 to pursue additional entrepreneurial opportunities in Ambulatory Surgery Centers. Fry currently lives in Northern California with his wife and 5 children.