Christopher Steven Sanderford was born in Norfolk, Virginia on December 22, 1980. He attended high school at Lake Taylor High School. After his father's passing in January 1996 he moved to North Carolina and completed one semester of his junior year at Cary High School and completed his senior year, graduating from Garner Senior High School in Garner, North Carolina. Chris enlisted in the United States Army on June 17,1998. He attended Basic Combat Training at Fort Leonard Wood, MO followed by Advanced Individual Training (AIT) at Fort Huachuca, AZ.