BOARD OF DIRECTORS CHAIRMAN
LTC Nathaniel Rivers was born in Wadmalaw Island, South Carolina; LTC. Rivers earned an athletic scholarship to attend South Carolina State College where he completed all requirements for a Bachelors of Science Degree in 1980. He also has earned a Masters Degree in Organizational Management, with a concentration in Human Resources, from the University of LaVerne, CA in 1997
In Brief:
Nate as called by many attended St Johns High School where he became an high school All -American in Football in South Carolina, sequentially earning a host of scholarship offers before settling for the nearby school of South Carolina State University. His achievement is far and wide but among the highlights of his college career including earning All-Conference (2) player as a quarterback, Player of the Year in the Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) in 1978, Black College Player of the Year (1978) earning a spot as a Track and field All American in 1978. Team Captain for 3 consecutive years. My Athletic career reached its highest point being drafted into the NFL as the Philadelphia Eagles of third player in 1979 football draft.as a RB, later traded to the New York Giants where I spend three years. As culminating success of my career I was inducted into the SCSU Athletic Hall of Fame (HoF) in 2005 and later in 2014 selected and inducted into the MEAC Hall of Fame (HoF)
In August of 1982 he enlisted and entered the U.S. Army as an enlisted soldier and completed Infantry Basic Training and AIT at Fort Benning, Georgia. He was first assigned the 11B skill set identifier, where he served in several jobs such as Fire Team Leader, Squad Leader and Platoon Sergeant. He achieved the rank of Staff Sergeant in only 5 years. In October 1986, he entered Officer Candidate School and was commissioned, as a 2nd Lieutenant, in the Infantry Corps in February of 1987.
Upon completion of the Infantry Officer Basic Course, LTC Rivers was assigned to A Company, 6/502nd Infantry Battalion, Berlin Brigade, Germany. He served as an Alpha Company Platoon Leader, Scout Platoon Leader and later Executive Officer.
Following a branch transfer to the Ordnance Corps, LTC Rivers attended the Ordnance Officer Advance Course. Subsequently, he was assigned to the, 6th Infantry Division, 706th Maintenance Battalion, Fort Richardson, Alaska where he served as the Adjutant and Commanded the 98th Maintenance Company. After command, he served as the Division Material Management Officer. LTC Rivers has served four tours in Korea, in his initial tour as a Captain, he was assigned to the 19th TAACOM, a theater level management unit and as the Chief, Operations Division–a job normally held by a Lieutenant Colonel. On his second tour he was assigned to the 34th Area Support Group as the Chief, of Plans and Operations. Upon completion of his second tour in Korea he was assigned as the Support Operations Officer; and later the Executive Officer ,Special Troops Battalion, Fort Richardson, Alaska. LTC Rivers was tasked from Ft Richardson to serve seven-month tour in Bosnia as an Assistant Inspector General where he routinely conducted briefings for top officials from the Serbian, Croatian and Bosnian Army. His third tour in Korea landed him on the 8th Army G4 staff as the Chief Maintenance Division. After that assignment, he was assigned to I Corps, Ft Lewis, Washington G4 staff as the Chief, Plans and Operations Division. After only 14 months at I Corp, he was assigned back to Korea as the Deputy Commander for Combat Support Coordination Team #1 located in Wonju, Korea, co-located with the First Republic Of Korea Army Headquarters. He was the senior US officer in that sector, and he later became the Commander for CSCT#1 where he commanded for 14 months. LTC Rivers returned to Alaska in May of 2007 and assumed the job as the Joint Base Integrator where he was tasked to establish the baseline effort for joint base integration in Alaska; deployed in Jan 2008 in support of Operation Enduring Freedom (OEF) where he was assigned to both the 82nd (6 months ) and the 101st AB Division (7months) as the Joint Task Force Deputy CJ4 . Returned to AK in Jan 2009 as the Director of Logistics and later moved to AMC (Aug 2009) to his current job as the Commander, Army Field Support Battalion (AFSBn-AK).
LTC Rivers’ list of achievements includes the Army Airborne Course, Army Air Assault Course, Platoon Confidence Training, French Command Training, Army Ranger Course, Unit and Organizational Supply Course, Standard Army Maintenance System Course, Combined Arms and Service Staff School, the Logistics Management Development Course, Support Operations Course and the Army Inspector General Course. He is also a graduate of the Army Command and General Staff College.
His awards and decorations include the Bronze Star, Legion of Merit, Defense Meritorious Service Medal (with 2 oak leaf clusters), Army Meritorious Service Medal (with four oak leaf clusters), Army Commendation Medal (with seven oak leaf clusters), Joint Service Achievement Award, Army Achievement Medal (with oak leaf clusters), Army Occupation Medal, Good Conduct Medal, Overseas Ribbon (9th Award), Army Service Ribbon, National Defense Service Medal W/OL, NATO Medal, Armed Forces Expeditionary Medal, Global War on Terrorism Medal, Korean Defense Service Medal, Non-Commissioned Officer School Ribbon (3rd Award), Parachutist Badge, Air Assault Badge, Expert Infantry Badge and the Combat Action Badge. Samuel Sharper Award Recipient He is married to the former Ramona Simon, a graduate of South Carolina State University. She is a Consumer Science teacher at Clarke Middle School in Anchorage, Alaska. They have two daughters, Lanika, a graduate of Hampton University who works at DIA (Defense Intelligence Agency and lives in the DC/ Maryland area; and Kimberly, a graduate of Hampton University and now attending George Washington University complete degree requirement as a Family Nurse Practitioner., currently serving in the United State Public Health Corp in the rank of Lieutenant (O3) as a Navy Nurse. Assigned at NIH (National Institute for Health.