 After having served as secretary in the Defence Committee ("Försvarsutskottet") in the Riksdag of 1871, Ryding was appointed General Staff Officer the following year and was promoted to Major in the army that same year.Promoted to Lieutenant Colonel of the General Staff in 1873, he assumed the post of Chief of the Military Office of the Ministry of Land Defence ("Lantförsvarsdepartementets kommandoexpedition") in 1873.In 1875 he was promoted to Lieutenant Colonel and appointed commanding officer of the Jämtland Ranger Corps, from which he was transferred in 1879 as Colonel and regimental commander of Skaraborg Regiment.