Over several days, Irving, his spotter, Pemberton, and the Reconnaissance team traveled through the sweltering hot Afghanistan desert. He was the first African American Special Operations Sniper to deploy with the 3rd Ranger Battalion. "It was a weird state to be in," Irving said. On the night of March 31, 2003, Company B 3rd Battalion gained a foothold of the Hadithah Dam complex and fought off elements from the Iraqi Republican Guard’s Hammurabi Division over the course of the next week. Today: Snow before 7am, then snow showers likely after 7am. ", Get all the stories you need-to-know from the most powerful name in news delivered first thing every morning to your inbox. Once again 3rd Battalion was called upon to fight against terrorism, but this time it would be to aid in Operation Iraqi Freedom. FOR MORE THAN 7 DECADES, US SOLDIERS SERVE AS 'FATHER CHRISTMAS' FOR PERILED ORPHANS IN JAPAN. While he’s proud of what he has accomplished in his military career, Irving said he’s happy he can just be Nick these days. The Ranger Selection and Training Company (RS&TC) is the “gateway into the Regiment.” He’s turned the page on his days as the Reaper. The regiment is headquartered at Fort Benning, Georgia and is composed of a regimental headquarters company, a military intelligence battalion, a special troops battalion, and three Ranger battalions. So, he stood out like no other, earning the nick name "Reaper" for all the confirmed kills he was racking up as a sniper, something he said was rare. What did interest him, was military snipers. Mutual Fund and ETF data provided by Refinitiv Lipper. He and his comrades took cover in a small hole in the ground as Taliban fighters shot bullets that barely missed Irving and his fellow men. Then 23-year-old Sergeant Nicholas Irving was on the ground making a name for himself. "I just screamed, and I cried a lot in my car.". He said he had few friends and struggled to find an interest in school. ©2021 FOX News Network, LLC. "We got there, and I knew there was going to be a different deployment, despite all the stories we were told about Afghanistan was relatively boring," Irving said. The 2nd Battalion ( Ranger ), 75th Infantry was activated at Ft. Lewis, WA on 1 October 1974. Market data provided by Factset. He recorded a record 33 confirmed kills in a 100-day span. Legal Statement. In April 1984, a small cadre arrived at FT. Benning, GA to begin the selection process. That was the day I quit drinking alcohol, just an abrupt stop.". Irving said he and his dad would watch ‘The Delta Force’ movies on weekends and that grew his interest in snipers even more. ", Nicholas Irving poses in martial arts class as child. The Ranger Military Intelligence Company (RMIC) provides the 75th Ranger Regiment and the special operations command the ability to conduct human, signal, and imagery intelligence, and all source analysis operations in support of combat operations. Mutual Fund and ETF data provided by Refinitiv Lipper. Quotes displayed in real-time or delayed by at least 15 minutes. or redistributed. "Every time we went out, I was pulling a trigger every single time," he said. Along the way, they met with and helped a Marine unit who had taken a local school from the Taliban and had come under fire every day. Today's mortgage rates stay low, not budging, Today's mortgage refinance rates see little change as market holds steady. Irving said the shot would be very hard, if not impossible, but he wasn’t about to let the special operation slip away, so he agreed to take the shot. Nicholas Irving at the end of his deployment in Afghanistan in 2009. Irving is the first African American Special Operations Sniper to deploy with the 3rd Ranger Battalion. This is an official U.S. Army Website sponsored by U.S. Army Maneuver Center of Excellence (MCoE). America Together - Black History Month - Nick Irving. During follow on missions, company B, 3rd Battalion minus accomplished a successful night parachute assault into Bastogne DZ to secure a desert landing strip in support of a special operations raid. On his sixth deployment in Afghanistan’s Helmand Province, he said he knew it wouldn’t be the usual quiet deployment he had become accustomed to. Major General Ken Kamper is the Commanding General of the Fires Center of Excellence and Fort Sill, Oklahoma. At 17, he enlisted in the US Military. In August 1993, Elements of Company B, 3rd Ranger Battalion and the Battalion Headquarters deployed to Somalia as part of Task Force Ranger, were on October 3, 1993 exactly nine years from the activation of the unit, they performed a courageous daylight assault where they engaged in the most intense ground combat since the Vietnam war. it was really good, but I’m not at the end. At the time the United States had sent 4,000 troops in the Helmand Province to help regain control from Taliban fighters, who had control over poppy fields in the area and was smuggling opioids to fund their insurgence. On October 3, 1984 at York Field, FT.Benning, GA, the Secretary of the Army, the Honorable John O. Marsh, presented the colors and activated the 75th Ranger Regimental Headquarters and the 3rd Battalion, 75th Ranger Regiment. (Nicholas Irving). The Battalion HHC is comprised of: Battalion … Quotes displayed in real-time or delayed by at least 15 minutes. All rights reserved. A few weeks later, company A 3rd battalion and sections of HHC 3rd Battalion carried out a successful parachute assault on H2 Airfield in Western Iraq. The 75th Ranger Regiment, also known as Army Rangers, is the U.S. Army's premier light infantry unit and special operations force within the United States Army Special Operations Command. A lot of chased [sic] home after school. The Battalion’s successful airfield seizure of the Rio Hato Airfield, its participation with 1st Battalion at Torrijos/ Tocumen Airfield, and subsequent combat operations contributed significantly to the United States victory in Panama. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, Market data provided by Factset. ©2021 FOX News Network, LLC. Powered and implemented by FactSet Digital Solutions. 3rd Military Police Group (CID) The 3rd Military Police Group (CID), headquartered at Hunter Army Airfield, Georgia supports commanders by conducting criminal investigations of serious, sensitive or special interest matters; preventing crime; protecting the force and Army resources in peacetime, combat and contingency operations throughout the group's area of operations. On 1 April 1943 the 2nd Ranger Battalion was formed at Camp Forrest, Tennessee, along with the 5th Ranger Battalion.Both battalions were officially activated in September 1943 and shipped to Great Britain where they were prepared for Operation Overlord as part of six Ranger battalions of the Second World War.. On 6 June 1944, Dog, Easy, and Fox Companies, commanded by Lt. "Then we learned we were pinned down by a sniper. (Nicholas Irving). The son of two cold war veterans, Irving grew up in government housing in Severn, Maryland. In commemoration of the Rangers who fought and died in Somalia, several members of Company B deployed to Morocco in 2001 to appear in the movie "Blackhawk Down". "It was one of the most frightful events I've ever experienced in my life and it allowed the other guys on the ground who was surrounding us to close in on us and I remember looking at my reconnaissance team leader, and we had this decision, we're going to pull the pin on a grenade, jump on it, kill ourselves because we didn't want to get captured.". On the night of October 19,2001 Components of Companies A, and C conducted a daring low level parachute assault onto Objective Rhino, a desert airfield in south western Afghanistan, in order to capture key logistical information. By the age of 23 he had become the first African American sniper to deploy with the 3rd Ranger Battalion. Back at home, what Irving saw and had been through weigh heavy on him. Biography. He used his sharp shooting skills to take out a target who was about to shoot a group of Marines with a rocket-propelled-grenade. Charles Watson joined Fox News in 2018 as a multimedia reporter based in Jackson, Mississippi. Irving left little room for mistake. Irving also found a love for writing, publishing an autobiography and several war novels. "They were getting attacked every morning. You've successfully subscribed to this newsletter! is located at Hunter Army Airfield, Ga.; and 4th Bn. The regiment headquarters is collocated with the 1st and 2nd battalions and the Special Operations Aviation Training Battalion at Fort Campbell, Ky.; 3rd Bn. "Nothing ever happens in Afghanistan.". Irving made it out of Afghanistan as one of the 3rd Ranger Battalion’s deadliest snipers with a record 33 confirmed kills in a 100-day span. However, there was no time to marvel in his skill because Irving and the Reconnaissance team still had their mission ahead of them. "I think it's weird for a sniper to get one. "Up until the birth of my son. 3rd Battalion The Royal Regiment of Scotland, The Black Watch, Army ... Ranger Age: 27 Unit: 1st Battalion, Royal Irish Regiment, Army ... in Afghanistan with 3rd … Legal Statement. is located at Fort Lewis, Wash. For a while Irving said he fell into a depression and turned to drinking for a while. "Sixth grade is when it really kicked off and all my focus was tailored around being in the army from ROTC to joining the Navy Sea Cadet Corps and going to baby seal program," he said. ", DC NATIONAL GUARD DEPLOYMENT IN NATION'S CAPITAL EXTENDED THROUGH END OF MARCH. After the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, 3rd Ranger Battalion was deployed to Afghanistan in support of Operation Enduring Freedom. It's mainly to observe," he said. It was one terrifying moment for Irving, who was used to being the sniper fixated on the target—not the other way around. They typically took over the school that the Taliban had bombed and destroyed," he recalled. 3rd Ranger Company troops getting ready to patrol the Imjin River, 1951.. During the Korean War, the division was known as the "Fire Brigade" for its rapid response to crisis. That’s when life changed for me. Back in Afghanistan, Irving and his fellow soldiers got back from a Marine unit after an hours-long battle with Taliban fighters that saw some of his comrades wounded. Due to growing terrorist attacks and terrorism overall throughout the world, the President of the United States, George W Bush, Jr. declare war on terrorism and the Global War on Terrorism campaign begins in the early months of the year 2002. He was a sniper team leader and was proving to be among the deadliest. Colonel James … Do you have enough life insurance coverage? "A couple of guys in the sniper section would say, ‘Hey man, I don't think I've ever seen a black guy in sniper section.’". More than a decade later, Nicholas Irving stills can’t shake his close call with death. "I knew what I was doing, and I wanted the action.". SEN. TOM COTTON DEFENDS MILITARY SERVICE, SAYS ALLEGED SMEAR IS 'ABOUT MY POLITICS'. "It was an all-day event, all day event we ended up going in. His sharp shooting skills had caught the attention of a Reconnaissance team, who needed Irving to take out a high-value-target from 800 meters away. After the terrorist attacks of September 11, 2001, 3rd Ranger Battalion was deployed to Afghanistan in support of Operation Enduring Freedom. "The marines functioned out of there and they were getting attacked every morning and they asked if we could help.". All rights reserved. "I got bullied a lot, a lot of fights. In 2009, the reality on the ground was far from boring or quiet. Being one of only a few Black people he said felt everything he did reflected on him being black. The activation of the Regimental Headquarters and the 3rd Battalion marked the first time since World War II that such a large Ranger force had been activated. In February and March of 1975, a group of cadre was trained at Fort Benning, GA, and formed a solid core of leaders capable of instilling Ranger values and doctrine into the first volunteers of the Battalion. At night, and night quickly turn into daytime, and as the sun started to rise, everything kicked off. He was finally reunited with his wife, Jessica, but he struggled to adjust to civilian life again. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. Irving made it out of Afghanistan as one of the 3rd Ranger Battalion’s deadliest snipers with a record 33 confirmed kills in a 100-day span. We got ambushed," Irving said. At a half mile distance, it was Irving’s longest shot of that deployment. 3rd Infantry Division had been headquartered at Fort Benning along with its 15th Infantry Regiment.The 7th Infantry Regiment was located at Fort Devens. 3rd Ranger Battalion; Regimental Special Troops Battalion ; Each of the 1st, 2nd and 3rd Ranger Battalions are around 600 men-strong and are made up of a battalion headquarters and headquarters company (HHC) and 4 rifle companies. In the moment, he thought back to his childhood. The group was able to escape to a safe house and secure their targets before Nick and his spotter led them to waiting Humvees they had to cram into. Today, his life’s focus is being a loving father and husband. It was completely surrounded. On December 20, 1989, 3rd Ranger Battalion was committed to Operation "Just Cause", in Panama. Following operation "Urgent Fury", in Grenada, the Department of the Army ordered the activation of the 3rd Battalion. 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