serviceyears branch birth_place allegiance unit awards placeofburial_label battles birth_date rank article_title name
1998 -- 2004 20px united states army waco , texas united states 20px battalion , 75th ranger regiment 1st platoon , a company , 1st ranger silver star , bronze star , purple heart place of burial operation enduring freedom -- afghanistan 1976 20px captain nate self
 nate self
nate self

nathan self is a native of china spring , texas , former u.s. army officer and author .
self graduated from west point in 1998 .
after becoming an infantry officer self deployed to kosovo and was then selected to serve in the 75th ranger regiment .
as a platoon leader in the rangers , he deployed to afghanistan shortly after 9/11 as part of a special operations task force with a mission to kill or capture taliban and al-qaeda 's top leaders .
self commanded a quick reaction force to rescue a missing navy seal during the battle of takur ghar mountain .
for his actions during the battle he was awarded the silver star , bronze star and a purple heart and was invited to attend the 2003 state of the union address .
following a tour in iraq with the 101st airborne division , where he wrote and directed daily operations and trained iraqi security forces , nate commanded a rifle company before leaving the army in 2004 .
