Nick Lavery.

Nick Lavery is an active-duty Green Beret — a Chief Warrant Officer in the United States Army Special Forces — and the founder and CEO of Precision Components LLC, the leadership-development company through which he and his team train, advise, and inspire organizations and individuals to unlock capacity and increase capability. He is widely recognized as the first Special Forces operator to return to combat as an above-the-knee amputee.

Born and raised in Massachusetts, Lavery played football at UMass Lowell and earned a degree in criminal justice before joining the Army. In 2013, on his second combat rotation to Afghanistan, he and his detachment fell victim to an insider attack that ultimately resulted in the loss of his leg. After a year of surgeries and rehabilitation at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center, he refused a medical retirement, and in 2015 — at the conclusion of a comprehensive assessment of his ability to operate — he returned to his detachment and deployed once again to Afghanistan, conducting full-spectrum combat operations. He went on to become the first amputee in military history to complete the Special Forces Warrant Officer Technical and Tactical Certification Course, the Special Operations Combatives Program Instructor Course, and the Special Forces Combat Diver Qualification Course.

Lavery's decorations include the Silver Star, three Purple Hearts, two Bronze Stars, and a Bronze Star with "V" for valor, along with honors such as the OSS Society Peter Ortiz Award and the Special Operations Command Excalibur Award. He is the bestselling author of Objective Secure: The Battle-Tested Guide to Goal Achievement, which shares the methodology he used to fight his way back to operational status — and which he continues to apply in service to his country. Known to his teammates as "Machine," Lavery has become one of the most sought-after speakers and instructors on leadership, resilience, and goal achievement, and he brings that message to the military and veteran community as a husband, father, and still-serving member of the Special Forces.