Sgt. Ricky Clousing is from the small town of Sumner, Washington. Throughout high school he was involved in various activities and mission trips with his church. After graduating in the year 2000, Ricky completed a year of college and then went off to Hawaii to a discipleship training program with the non-profit organization Youth With A Mission. This included a two month outreach application throughout northern Thailand. Upon completion of the program, he returned back home to finish school but decided instead to travel to Germany and live with his father. While taking time off school and backpacking through Europe, Ricky met soldiers returning from duty in Afghanistan and began to consider joining the military.

Upon meeting with a recruiter and reviewing the possibilities, he decided to enlist in the Army. Completing basic training, he went onto finish his individual training which consisted of the Army interrogation course, and finally the French language program at the Defense Language Institute. After eighteen months of training, he was assigned to the elite 82nd Airborne Division in Fort Bragg, North Carolina. In December of 2004, Ricky was assigned to a small attatchment which deployed to Iraq in support of the first stage of elections. During his time in Iraq, he served in Baghdad and Mosul as a Tactical Interrogator with various infantry units, until his return in April 2005.