Nicholas Dockery was born in Indianapolis, Indiana. Raised by his grandmother, Dockery graduated from St. John’s Military School in Salina, Kansas. After his application to West Point was rejected in 2004, he enlisted as an infantryman in the Indiana Army National Guard and was assigned to the 151st Long Range Surveillance Detachment (Airborne), 38th Infantry Division. He completed Basic Combat Training and Advanced Individual Training for Infantry and Airborne School at Fort Benning, Georgia.
In 2005, he transferred to the New Mexico Army National Guard and entered the Army ROTC Simultaneous Membership Program while attending the New Mexico Military Institute.
Dockery applied to the U.S. Military Academy for a second time and was accepted. Although he was offered a commission by the New Mexico Army National Guard, he turned it down in favor of attending West Point. He graduated in 2011, earning a Bachelor of Science and was commissioned into the infantry.
Then-2nd Lt. Dockery’s first assignment in 2011 was to 4th Brigade, 4th Infantry Division, Fort Carson, Colorado. Upon completion of his infantry officer training and specialty schooling at Fort Benning, he deployed to Afghanistan in support of Operation Enduring Freedom in the summer of 2012.
He served as a platoon leader in Kunar and Kapisa Provinces, among the most dangerous areas of the Afghanistan conflict. During this time, Dockery worked alongside Special Forces teams training and advising host nation forces, which left an indelible impact on him and solidified his desire to one day become a Green Beret. It was during this deployment where Dockery’s selfless actions as a platoon leader earned him a Silver Star that would be upgraded to the Medal of Honor.
In 2014, he deployed again to Afghanistan as a company executive officer in Zabul Province, where he oversaw base defense operations. He later assumed duties as the assistant battalion S4 logistics officer and served as a security force advisor to a kandak, an Afghan military battalion sized element, of the 205th Corps during the country’s first Afghan-led presidential election.
In 2015, Dockery, now a captain, was selected for and successfully completed the Special Forces Assessment and Selection program. Upon completion of the Special Forces Qualification Course, he was awarded the green beret and the Special Forces Tab and assigned to 7th Special Forces Group (Airborne) at Eglin Air Force Base, Florida. There, he took command of Operational Detachment Alpha 744, a military free-fall infiltration team.
Dockery was the 2017 recipient of the USMA Alexander R. Nininger Award for Valor at Arms. The award, presented to a recent graduate on active duty who has shown tremendous heroic action in battle, was presented to Dockery for his actions during his 2012 deployment in Afghanistan.
In 2018, ODA 744 deployed in support of Operation Freedom’s Sentinel and the Resolute Support Mission. During this deployment, Dockery advised the 5th Special Operations Kandak Commandos and the 24N Afghan Special Forces Company, conducting ground force clearing operations across Balkh, Faryab and Jowzjan Provinces. The unit served as the only autonomous and capable ground assault force in the region. During this deployment, Dockery was awarded his second Silver Star for the Battle of Faryab Province — making him the only commissioned Army officer to receive the Silver Star twice since Sept. 11, 2001.
In early 2019, Dockery led a small pilot team to expand training programs and resources in Heredia, Costa Rica, and furthered bilateral operations and training programs with Colombian counterparts in Bogotá.
Later in 2019, he assumed company command of the Group Headquarters and Headquarters Company elements and whose responsibilities expanded during the COVID-19 pandemic, managing global group support for hundreds of deployed service members participating in international operations.
In 2020, he received the Gen. Douglas MacArthur Leadership Award, given to the top one percent of company grade officers in the Army and selected through U.S. Special Operations Command.
In 2022, he was appointed aide-de-camp to the commanding general of the 1st Special Forces Command and named the Military Times Foundation Soldier of the Year.
He was selected for promotion to the rank of major in 2023. Dockery was also selected as a General Wayne Downing Scholar in 2023 and received his Master of Public Policy from Yale University’s Jackson School of Global Affairs.
He later held a post-graduate research fellowship with the U.S. Military Academy’s Modern War Institute, writing about the Chinese Communist Party’s use of fentanyl as a form of asymmetric warfare against the United States and Western nations. The piece was subsequently selected by the West Point Press and published as an anthology.
In 2024, Dockery was selected for the highly competitive White House Fellows Program within the Executive Office of the President and was initially assigned to the Director of the Office of Homeland Security at the National Security Council. He was later assigned to the Office of the First Lady’s Joining Forces initiative.
In 2025, he received the Ben Franklin Global Forum Adm. Charles LeMoyne Distinguished Soldier Award and began pursuing his Master of Business Administration at the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School, where he is expected to graduate in 2027 with a concentration in quantitative finance.
Dockery’s final assignment was within the Special Operations Command’s Pentagon unit. He retired from active service in May 2026. His military awards include the Medal of Honor, Silver Star Medal, Legion of Merit, Soldier’s Medal, Bronze Star Medal with two Bronze Oak Leaf Clusters and Purple Heart with one Bronze Oak Leaf Cluster.
Recognizing the hidden injuries of post-traumatic stress and benefiting from alternative therapies such as art and equine therapy, he founded the Nicholas Dockery Foundation in 2025. The foundation supports local art and equine therapy programs with additional funding for those struggling with mental and emotional health challenges.
