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Rhyan John Alan Klaus Ritter (born October 14, 1997) is an American psychology enthusiast and officer who serves in the United States Armed Forces.

Early Life
Rhyan John Alan Klaus Ritter (then Rhyan Alan Monaghan) was born on October 14, 1997, in Bloemfontein, South Africa, the first child of Roland Cyril Monaghan and Nellie Anne Kriek Monaghan. Ritter grew up with one younger sibling K-Leigh Monaghan in the Springs neighborhood of Johannesburg, South Africa and attended Strubenvale Primary School until the first grade. At age 6, he visited the United States for the first time, alongside his mother and younger sister, to visit family in Minnesota during a time his parents were planning to separate, leaving his mother with the decision to relocate to United States for a new life, having the opportunity to do so as a US Citizen.

After spending time in the United States, his parents agreed to end their planned separation and his family relocated to Bloemfontein together on day of the 2004 Tsunami. In 2005 he began attending an all-boys school, Grey College, from second to the beginning of sixth grade. In 2009, at age 11, Ritter and his family relocated to Pretoria, South Africa.

Teenage Years
Ritter was enrolled into homeschooling for most sixth grade until he completed 8th grade, due to his parents being faced with uncertainty for quality schooling systems in the unfamiliar Pretoria area. His time in homeschooling had a significant impact on his social health, placing him in a sudden vacuum where he had no peer relations. During this time, he had also developed a very negative relationship with his sister. At age 13, he attended Hendrik Verwoerd High School from the 9th grade until 12th grade and graduated at the end of 2015.

As a child of a US Citizen, he identified a law that entitled him to natural born US Citizenship from birth, when he was 14 years old, and he became pursuant towards becoming a legal US Citizen, prior to the law's expiration on his 18th birthday. At age 16, he began the paperwork process to receive his full US Citizenship and was awarded that right, at age 17, on July 2, 2015, in Minneapolis, Minnesota.

During his time pursuing full US Citizenship, he traveled to the United States in 2014 for his second time, and third time in June - July of 2015. After he collected his high school diploma on January 6, 2015, he renounced his South African Citizenship and traveled permanently to the Unted States the same day.

Early Adult Life
When Ritter was 18 years old and planned on permanently relocating to the United States, he lacked support from both immediate and extended family when doing so. His father provided little to no financial support, and his extended family in Minnesota were handling the death of his cousin's husband from pneumonia in late 2015.

Enlistment
After Ritter arrived in the United States, he had to make new life plans when his family support network had collapsed. His original plan was to immediately enter university after completing high school, however, a lack of physical and financial support from his family left him seeking alternative options. With only $1500.00 to his name, that he brought with him as cash to live from, he realized that a university path was no longer realistic. Within days of arriving in the United States, he joined the United States Army as a Quartermaster in February 2016, completing his training in August 2016. His father was against him entering military service on active duty and forbid him from doing so. Despite his father's wishes, he ignored them and proceeded on active duty without his knowledge, to which his father was furious to learn about while he was in Basic Combat Training. Ritter recovered his relationship with his father and maintained a strong bond, from a distance. Ritter's father suddenly fell ill and died of pulmonary embolism in September 2016.

Assignments
Ritter was assigned to the 1st Infantry Division at Fort Riley, Kansas, in August 2016, where he lived until November 2018. Durning his time at Fort Riley, he deployed to Europe and completed the Airborne training at Fort Moore (then Fort Benning), Georgia. He was reassigned to the 1st Special Forces Group at Joint Base Lewis-McChord, Washington until August 2021. While at Joint Base Lewis-McChord he deployed to Afghanistan as part of Operation Freedom Sentinel, in 2019, an conducted a Joint Combined Exchange Training in India during 2021. In August 2021 he ended his enlisted career as sergeant, nearly completing six years on active duty.

Education and Commissioning
In August 2021, he began studying psychology with a minor in history at Saint Martin's University in Lacey, Washington, and took part in the ROTC Program. He graduated in May 2023 with honors Magna cum laude, and commissioned as a second lieutenant in the Infantry, with the United States Army on active duty. He was then assigned to Fort Moore, Georgia, in June 2023 and completed the Infantry Basic Officers Leadership Course in November of 2023.

Family Dispute
In 2018, Ritter began to develop strong disapproval for immediate members of his late father's family. Following months of consideration, and his new life in the United States, he decided to proceed with a legal name change to separate from the remainder of his father's family. He considered using previous existing family names as a last name but felt the desire for more of a fresh start. He selected the name Germanic name Ritter due to its similarity to his mother's maiden name Kriek, which originated from the High German Krieger. He maintained Alan after his late grandfather and adopted John as a namesake for other family members he loved. He added the name Klaus as a third middle name due to his grown fondness for it, after earning it as a nickname while serving in Germany, from German soldiers. The reason for this nickname is unknown.

Religion
Ritter was raised Methodist and practiced his Christian faith strongly while growing up. At age 13, he expressed interest in the Catholic Faith, however, was met with discouragement from his father, who had a Northern Irish background. At age 20, while on a military mission is Poland, he was reintroduced to the Catholic Faith and felt strong leanings towards the Church with encouragement from a local Polish Priest. He was Baptized and Confirmed Catholic on Easter in 2019.

In 2022 he was selected to travel with the Knights of Columbus to France on a pilgrimage to Lourdes where he grew spiritually with Ukrainian Soldiers, following the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

He is an active member of the Knights of Columbus and a member of the Teutonic Order.

Politics
As a teenager, Ritter was fond of then President Barack Obama and supported him as a Democrat until 2015. In 2016, he left the Democratic Party and became a conservative Independent.

He condemned the Capitol Riot on January 6, 2021.

In 2023 he supported the presidential campaign of Governor Ron DeSantis of Florida.

He has expressed interest in running for office in either the United States House of Representatives or the United States Senate, representing Florida, post-military career.