Nicholas Irving (born November 28, 1986) is an American author and former soldier. He was a

special operations Special operations (S.O.) are military activities conducted, according to NATO, by "specially designated, organized, selected, trained, and equipped forces using unconventional techniques and modes of employment". Special operations may include ...

sniper 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 r ...

in the

3rd Ranger Battalion The 3rd Ranger Battalion, currently based at Fort Benning, Georgia, is the third of three Ranger Battalions belonging to the United States Army's 75th Ranger Regiment. History World War II Ranger Organization by Major Herman Dammer After the ...

for the

U.S. Army The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, cl ...

Early life

Irving was born in Augsburg, Germany, growing up the son of two enlisted soldiers.

Career

Military

Irving joined the

U.S. military The United States Armed Forces are the military forces of the United States. The armed forces consists of six service branches: the Army, Marine Corps, Navy, Air Force, Space Force, and Coast Guard. The president of the United States is the ...

, intending to join the

Navy SEALs The United States Navy Sea, Air, and Land (SEAL) Teams, commonly known as Navy SEALs, are the United States Navy, U.S. Navy's primary special operations force and a component of the United States Naval Special Warfare Command, Naval Special Wa ...

, but he failed a colorblindness test and joined the

United States Army Rangers United States Army Rangers, according to the US Army's definition, are personnel, past or present, in any unit that has the official designation "Ranger". The term is commonly used to include graduates of the US Army Ranger School, even if t ...

, serving in Iraq and Afghanistan. Irving was issued a SR-25 rifle, which he nicknamed ''Dirty Diana''.

Entertainment

After the Army, Irving pursued an entertainment career. In 2016, Irving was one of four military leaders to serve as coaches on the reality show ''

American Grit ''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 th ...

'' with

John Cena John Felix Anthony Cena ( ; born April 23, 1977) is an American part-time professional wrestler, actor, and former rapper. He is currently signed to WWE. Widely regarded as one of the greatest professional wrestlers of all time, he is tied w ...

. 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. He also served as an on-set advisor for

Doug Liman Douglas Eric Liman (; born July 24, 1965) is an American film director and producer. He is known for directing the films '' Swingers'' (1996), '' Go'' (1999), '' The Bourne Identity'' (2002), '' Mr. & Mrs. Smith'' (2005), ''Jumper'' (2008), ''Edg ...

's 2017 sniper film ''

The Wall ''The Wall'' is the eleventh studio album by the English progressive rock band Pink Floyd, released on 30 November 1979 by Harvest/EMI and Columbia/CBS Records. It is a rock opera that explores Pink, a jaded rock star whose eventual self-imp ...

''.

Author

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 The war on terror, officially the Global War on Terrorism (GWOT), is an ongoing international Counterterrorism, counterterrorism military campaign initiated by the United States following the September 11 attacks. The main targets of the campa ...

. On February 2, 2015,

The Weinstein Company The Weinstein Company (usually credited or abbreviated as TWC) was an American independent film studio, founded in New York City by Bob and Harvey Weinstein in March 2005. TWC was one of the largest mini-major film studios in North America prior ...

acquired the television rights to make a

miniseries A miniseries or mini-series is a television series that tells a story in a predetermined, limited number of episodes. "Limited series" is another more recent US term which is sometimes used interchangeably. , the popularity of miniseries format h ...

out of the

autobiography An autobiography, sometimes informally called an autobio, is a self-written account of one's own life. It is a form of biography. Definition The word "autobiography" was first used deprecatingly by William Taylor in 1797 in the English peri ...

. On March 5, 2015,

NBC The National Broadcasting Company (NBC) is an Television in the United States, American English-language Commercial broadcasting, commercial television network, broadcast television and radio network. The flagship property of the NBC Enterta ...

picked up the miniseries from Weinstein. In late 2017 Irving revealed in a podcast that the miniseries has been scrapped, but a movie based on the book was in preproduction.

Personal life

Irving married Jessica Irving in 2007.

Bibliography

;Nonfiction * ''Basic & Intermediate Combat Survival'' (2011) * ''Team Reaper: 3rd Ranger Battalion's Deadliest Sniper Team'' (2012) * ''The Reaper: Autobiography of One of the Deadliest Special Ops Snipers'' (2015, with Gary Brozek) * ''Way of the Reaper: My Greatest Untold Missions and the Art of Being a Sniper'' (2016, with Gary Brozek) ;Fiction * ''Reaper: Ghost Target'' (2018, with A.J. Tata) * ''Reaper: Threat Zero'' (2019, with A.J. Tata) *''Reaper: Drone Strike'' (2020, with A.J. Tata)

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Irving, Nicholas 1987 births 21st-century American male actors 21st-century American non-fiction writers American autobiographers 21st-century American male writers American military snipers Entertainment law Entertainment lawyers Living people Male actors from Maryland People from Maryland United States Army Rangers United States Army non-commissioned officers American male non-fiction writers United States Army personnel of the Iraq War United States Army personnel of the War in Afghanistan (2001–2021)