Maj. Nicholas Dockery’s resume stands out even amongst his fellow Special Forces officers.
The West Level graduate is enrolled in Yale College’s international affairs graduate program as a part of the aggressive Downing Students program.
He’s led an Operational Detachment-Alpha and commanded the headquarters firm for seventh Special Forces Group earlier than finishing a tour because the aide-de-camp to the officer accountable for 1st Special Forces Command.
The previous infantry officer acquired the Normal Douglas MacArthur Management Award in 2020, an honor reserved for the service’s high firm grade officers.
Dockery additionally acquired the Navy Excellent Volunteer Service Medal for his work to assist foster youngsters.
The remainder of his recognitions inform one other story — that of an officer who performs below hearth.
He’s acquired two Purple Coronary heart medals, and two of his different awards bear “C” gadgets that denote they had been acquired for efficiency below fight situations.
And in keeping with Protection Division information, Dockery is the only real Army officer and considered one of solely two U.S. officers to obtain two Silver Stars for gallantry within the post-9/11 period, the opposite being Navy SEAL Cmdr. Seth Stone, who died in a 2017 skydiving accident. Dockery acquired the West Level Affiliation of Graduates’ Alexander Nininger Award for Valor at Arms in 2017, as effectively.
Now, the Navy Occasions Basis has named him the 2022 Soldier of the Yr. Army Occasions interviewed Dockery in late June, forward of the award ceremony in July.
‘For a number of years, I thought of it each single day’
Dockery’s first Silver Star got here throughout his first deployment to Afghanistan as a contemporary infantry platoon chief assigned to 2nd Battalion, twelfth Infantry Regiment, a part of the 4th Infantry Division at Fort Carson, Colorado.
He was deployed instantly after arriving at Carson, becoming a member of an skilled platoon just a few months into their deployment. His unit moved into Kapisa Province in late September 2012, Dockery mentioned in a 2017 podcast interview.
Days later, on Oct. 2, 2012, his life modified.
Dockery’s platoon and a platoon of Afghan Nationwide Army troops had been sustaining a safety perimeter across the provincial governor’s compound throughout a high-level assembly when Taliban fighters attacked with machine weapons, grenades and RPGs.
The lieutenant gathered half his troops and counterattacked, however as they continued to press their benefit, his weapons squad chief, now-retired Employees Sgt. Eric Mitchell, was wounded. That set off a close-quarters firefight in a compound the place Dockery and a group of 4 killed a number of fighters. However a Taliban counterattack with a collection of grenades and RPGs wounded all the Individuals.
Because the mud settled, in keeping with his Silver Star narrative, Dockery realized that considered one of his NCOs, Sgt. Jack Hansbro, was lacking. The officer charged into a close-by alleyway and killed two Taliban fighters who had been dragging away an unconscious Hansbro.
“[That day] was a really harrowing occasion,” Dockery informed Army Occasions. “For a number of years, I thought of it each single day.”
He acknowledged that his need to “instill…religion and confidence that I used to be a reliable and deliberate chief” could have led him into “slightly bit riskier conditions than I wanted to be [in],” however emphasised that the work of his troopers within the compound was what carried them by the battle.
Each within the podcast and to Army Occasions, Dockery recounted how Mitchell (who nominated him for Soldier of the Yr), Hansbro and the opposite two troops within the compound — Sgt. 1st Class Invoice Nabinger and Sgt. 1st Class Roshan Baum — repeatedly saved one another’s lives.
“I used to be the lucky recipient of some higher-level recognition, however these issues are executed with groups,” he defined.
Dockery recovered from his wounds and completed the deployment together with his platoon.
Changing into a Inexperienced Beret, and a second Silver Star
After finishing his platoon chief time and a tour as an organization govt officer, Dockery deployed as a fight advisor, the place his work alongside aspect Special Forces troops solidified his need to develop into a Inexperienced Beret.
“That’s what drew me,” he mentioned.
Following choice and his coaching pipeline, Dockery deployed once more to Afghanistan with seventh Special Forces Group, with whom he would earn a second Silver Star.
The second valor award got here from a battle by which about 250 Taliban fighters attacked a mixed U.S.-Afghan pressure, and the then-captain’s choices and fast response had been credited with blunting the assault. Greater than 110 enemy fighters had been killed.
Since then, he’s continued to advance his profession, gathering fellowships and accolades. After ending his graduate diploma in spring 2023, he’s prone to take command of a Special Forces firm.
Dockery mentioned he hopes to take a few of the information he’s gaining at Yale — together with work on worldwide diplomacy, cybersecurity and extra — again to the particular operations neighborhood.
Addressing psychological well being points
Requested what he desires to see improved within the Army, Dockery expressed hope {that a} forthcoming overhaul of the service’s suicide prevention program may also help to cut back the stigma typically related to looking for behavioral well being remedy.
He defined how the lack of some comrades who died by suicide affected him, describing it as “a phenomenon that’s [been] impacting [me] for years, and years and years.”
Dockery contends that though tragic, “it’s extra palatable to grasp” deaths in fight.
“It’s by no means who you’d suspect [who dies by suicide],” he mentioned. “After I take into consideration what they should have gone by to get to that time, it’s so troublesome.”
He’s optimistic that empowering commanders and getting them to grasp the choices and instruments at their disposal will assist. He pointed to the Army’s advances in understanding the science on mind accidents and “invisible wounds” as proof of the potential “social impacts” of coverage modifications.
“I hope once they put [this] coverage out, it sort of helps form” and scale back a few of the stigma and engrained worries about looking for behavioral well being remedy, Dockery mentioned.
Davis Winkie is a senior reporter protecting the Army, specializing in accountability reporting, personnel points and navy justice. He joined Navy Occasions in 2020. Davis studied historical past at Vanderbilt College and UNC-Chapel Hill, writing a grasp’s thesis about how the Chilly Struggle-era Protection Division influenced Hollywood’s WWII films.
