Will Thomas is originally born and raised within Georgia. From an early age, Will knew he wanted to serve his country and others. Mainly because of the influences in his life such as his grandfathers on both sides of the family who served in the Army during the Korean War; and his father who served in the Army during the Vietnam era. After graduating high school in 1996, Will joined the Army to pursue his dreams of serving his country. Will was so dedicated that he graduated as the honor graduate of his cycle during basic training. He was assigned to Ft. Campbell, KY home of the Air Assault Division. During this time frame is when Clint and Will first crossed paths. Clint and Will were serving with 101^st Airborne Division 2/327^th Infantry Regiment in HHC Company SCOUT Platoon. This infantry brigade is best known for its history during WWII in the Battle of Bastogne. In 2003 the entire 101^st Airborne was activated and deployed to Iraq. While on their deployment to Iraq in May, the SCOUT Platoon had just returned from a short mission. It was at this time, Will was approached by the company commander and Chaplin with a Red Cross message; Clint was standing beside him. Will was advised his wife and mother to their two small children, had died unexpectedly. Shocked and overwhelmed, Will was immediately removed from theater overseas and returned home to bury his wife and raise their children. Will and his wife were high sweethearts and had been together for over 10 years when she passed. After a few days home at Ft. Campbell, Will remembered he was reading the book of Job and was only halfway thru, so he finished it. Determined to ensure that he made the best decisions for his children, Will decided to finish his military career, move back to Georgia and pursue a career in law enforcement. Will sent himself to the police academy and after successful completion of school, he started as a patrol officer within his hometown police department. During this time as a local police officer, he held various positions within the agency: SWAT, K-9 officer (& supervisor), FTO (field training officer) patrol SGT (& supervisor), detective, narcotics investigator, CIT (state crisis intervention officer) and various other schools, etc. During this time, Will also attended Thomas University located in South Georgia, graduating with a criminal justice degree, while working full time and raising his children. Determined to once again make a change and challenge himself, Will wanted to become a state trooper in Georgia. This rigorous school is 36 weeks long and is one of the longest trooper schools in the nation. Will successfully completed trooper school with the 88^th trooper school class and was voted by his peers as class president, giving him the honor of delivering the graduation speech on behalf of his class to everyone in attendance, including the governor of Georgia and all distinguished guest. Will’s career was cut short, due to an injury obtained in the line of duty. He spent the last few years of his trooper career working at the state capitol on the Governor’s protective detail. Will is still an actively POST certified law enforcement in Georgia, but he is not actively employed for an agency currently, as he is medically retired.