The Timeline: From infancy to infantry
MANILA, Philippines - August 15, 1984 — From a Clark Air Base, Pampanga romance, Ryan is born to a Filipina mother and American father. Six months later, the Roberts family relocates to Florida.
Sept. 12, 2001 — Ryan, 17, enlists in the U.S. Army Infantry to serve in Afghanistan.
The following year, he is shipped off to Iraq.
2002 to 2004 — Ryan’s battalion liberates the cities of An Najaf, Karbala, and Al Hillah. His company provides outer perimeter security while Saddam’s sons Uday and Qusay Hussein are being gunned down in their home.
March 2004 — Last mission of Ryan’s company: “We secure one of the police stations and as we’re leaving, about a mile away, I hear one of the biggest explosions in my life. We looked back and the police station just got blown to shit—50 Iraqi police officers got killed.”
February 2006 — Ryan completes his four-year term of service to the army.
March 2006 — Returning to the Philippines, Ryan’s first time doing runway work: “They said I was too stiff. Pretty much I was marching down the ramp.”
September 11, 2008 — First time walking for the Cosmo Bachelor Bash. “I was into the feeling of the crowd. They were cheering and squirting me with a water gun.”
November 2008 — Ryan is named Mister Philippines-International 2008 but upon heading to Taiwan for the finals, he suffers a seizure and is pulled out of the competition. “Well, that was disappointing,” he says.
2010 — Ryan directs a fashion show for Levi’s. “I’m also trying to get away from modeling and move into styling. There was always an interest; I just kind of suppressed it. And then here, I pursued it.”
