Nicholas Irving | |
---|---|
Born | Augsburg, Germany | November 28, 1986
Allegiance | United States |
Service/ | United States Army |
Years of service | 2004–10 |
Rank | Sergeant |
Unit | 75th Ranger Regiment |
Battles/wars | Iraq War War in Afghanistan |
Nicholas Irving (born November 28, 1986) is an American author and former soldier. He was a special operations sniper in the 3rd Ranger Battalion for the U.S. Army. [1]
Nicholas Irving was born on November 28, 1986, in Augsburg, Germany. His parents were both enlisted soldiers. [2] [3]
Irving originally intended to join the Navy SEALs, but he failed a colorblindness test. He instead joined the United States Army Rangers and served in Iraq and Afghanistan. He was issued a SR-25 rifle, which he nicknamed Dirty Diana. With that rifle he has 33 confirmed kills. [2] [4]
After the Army, Irving pursued an entertainment career.[ citation needed ]
In 2016, Irving was one of four military leaders to serve as coaches on the reality show American Grit with John Cena. [5] [6] [7]
Starting in August 2017, Irving began appearing as a recurring guest on the popular firearm YouTube channel, Demolition Ranch. He has also made appearances on other YouTube channels such as, LunkersTV and Insider.[ citation needed ]
He also served as an on-set advisor for Doug Liman's 2017 sniper film The Wall .[ citation needed ]
In 2015, he wrote and published with Gary Brozek The Reaper: Autobiography of One of the Deadliest Special Ops Snipers, a New York Times bestseller about his military career during the War on Terror. [8] [9] [10] On February 2, 2015, The Weinstein Company acquired the television rights to make a miniseries out of the autobiography. [11] On March 5, 2015, NBC picked up the miniseries from Weinstein. [12] In late 2017 Irving revealed in a podcast that the miniseries has been scrapped, but a movie based on the book was in preproduction. [13]
A sniper is a military/paramilitary marksman who engages targets from positions of concealment or at distances exceeding the target's detection capabilities. Snipers generally have specialized training and are equipped with high-precision rifles and high-magnification optics, and often also serve as scouts/observers feeding tactical information back to their units or command headquarters.
Gary Ivan Gordon was a master sergeant in the United States Army and a recipient of the Medal of Honor. At the time of his death, he was a non-commissioned officer in the United States Army's premier special operations unit, the 1st Special Forces Operational Detachment-Delta (1SFOD-D), or "Delta Force". Together with his comrade, Sergeant First Class Randy Shughart, Gordon was posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor for his actions during the Battle of Mogadishu in October 1993.
Randall David Shughart was a United States Army Delta Force operator who was posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor for his actions during the Battle of Mogadishu, during Operation Gothic Serpent in October 1993.
The M21 Sniper Weapon System (SWS) in the US Army is a national match grade M14 rifle, selected for accuracy, and renamed the M21 rifle. The M21 uses a commercially procured 3–9× variable power telescopic sight, modified for use with the sniper rifle. It is chambered for the 7.62×51mm NATO cartridge.
Simo Häyhä, often referred to by his nickname, The White Death, was a Finnish military sniper in World War II during the 1939–1940 Winter War against the Soviet Union. He used a Finnish-produced M/28-30 and a Suomi KP/-31 submachine gun. He is believed to have killed over 500 enemy soldiers during the Winter War, the highest number of sniper kills in any major war. Because of this, he is often regarded as the deadliest sniper of all time.
Carlos Norman Hathcock II was a United States Marine Corps (USMC) sniper with a service record of 93 confirmed kills. Hathcock's record and the extraordinary details of the missions he undertook made him a legend in the U.S. Marine Corps. He was honored by having a rifle named after him: a variant of the M21 dubbed the Springfield Armory M25 White Feather, for the nickname "White Feather" given to Hathcock by the North Vietnamese People's Army of Vietnam (PAVN).
The M40 rifle is a bolt-action sniper rifle used by the United States Marine Corps. It has had four variants: the M40, M40A1, M40A3, and M40A5. The M40 was introduced in 1966. The changeover to the A1 model was completed in the 1970s, the A3 in the 2000s, and the A5 in 2009.
The Barrett M82 is a recoil-operated, semi-automatic anti-materiel rifle developed by the American company Barrett Firearms Manufacturing.
American Heroes Channel is an American multinational pay television channel owned by the Warner Bros. Discovery Networks unit of Warner Bros. Discovery. The network carries programs related to the military, warfare, and military history and science.
The M110 Semi Automatic Sniper System is an American semi-automatic sniper rifle that is chambered for the 7.62×51mm NATO round. It is manufactured by Knight's Armament Company, developed from the Knight's Armament Company SR-25, and adopted by the U.S. military following the 2005 US Army Semi-Automatic Sniper Rifle competition.
Charles Benjamin Mawhinney was a United States Marine who holds the Corps' record for the most confirmed sniper kills, having recorded 103 confirmed kills and 216 probable kills in 16 months during the Vietnam War.
The Counter Terrorism Service is a special operations force of Iraq. The Agency was founded in 2007, but originally was created in 1950, but was disbanded and recruited from scratch by the United States federal government after the 2003 U.S. invasion. It was originally known as the Iraqi Special Operations Forces (ISOF). The forces, directed by the Iraqi Counter Terrorism Service, consist of the Iraqi Counter Terrorism Command, which has three brigades subordinate to it. The Counter Terrorism Service is funded by the Iraqi Ministry of Defence.
Reports regarding the longest recorded sniper kills that contain information regarding the shooting distance and the identity of the sniper have been presented to the general public since 1967. Snipers have had a substantial history following the development of long distance weaponry. As weapons, ammunition, and aids to determine ballistic solutions improved, so too did the distance from which a kill could be targeted. In mid-2017 it was reported that an unnamed Canadian special forces operator, based in Iraq, had set a new record of 3,540 m (3,871 yd), beating the record previously held by an Australian sniper at 2,815 m (3,079 yd). In November 2023, the record was once again broken by 58-year old Ukrainian sniper, Vyacheslav Kovalsky from the Security Service of Ukraine, who shot a Russian soldier from a distance of 3,800 m (4,156 yd) during the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
Christopher Scott Kyle was a United States Navy SEAL sniper. He served four tours in the Iraq War and was awarded several commendations for acts of heroism and meritorious service in combat. He had 160 confirmed kills and was awarded a Silver Star, three Bronze Star Medals with "V" devices for valor, 2x Navy and Marine Corps Achievement Medal with "V" device, as well as numerous other unit and personal awards.
Anthony Jean Tata, is an American retired United States Army officer, author, and government official. He is a retired brigadier general of the United States Army (1981–2009), and later served as a school district administrator for two large school districts in the District of Columbia and North Carolina. He served as Secretary of Transportation of North Carolina from 2013 to 2015 under Governor Pat McCrory. Tata is the author of the Threat series of thriller novels.
American Sniper: The Autobiography of the Most Lethal Sniper in U.S. Military History is a work of autobiographical creative nonfiction by United States Navy SEAL Chris Kyle, written with Scott McEwen and Jim DeFelice. The book was published by William Morrow and Company on January 2, 2012 and appeared on The New York Times Best Seller list for 37 weeks.
The Prizren Incident was a confrontation between German Kosovo Force (KFOR) troops advancing into Kosovo and stragglers from the withdrawing Yugoslav Army. The shootout took place in the city of Prizren, on 13 June 1999. The German troops killed one armed Serb on the spot, while another one died of wounds later. A German soldier was injured by return fire, and there were reports of a woman wounded by Serb snipers.
American Grit is an American reality television series that premiered on Fox on April 14, 2016. The series stars WWE wrestler John Cena. Fox ordered ten episodes for the first season of the competition series. On July 29, 2016, Fox renewed the series for a second season, which premiered on Sunday, June 11, 2017.
The Wall is a 2017 American war thriller film directed by Doug Liman and written by Dwain Worrell. The film follows two American soldiers trapped by an Iraqi sniper. Produced by Amazon Studios, it was released on May 12, 2017, by Roadside Attractions. The film received mixed reviews from critics and audiences and grossed $4.5 million against a $3 million budget.