When someone is asked about the fundamentals of America as a nation, the values of patriotism, pride, and freedom come to mind. Team USA bobsledder Nathan Weber showcases all of these. Weber, 31, grew up in Thornton, CO and is currently serving as a Sergeant First Class in the Army and an active-duty Green Beret.
Weber grew up wanting to serve his country in the military. This desire was sparked his freshman year of high school when he witnessed the collapse of the World Trade Center towers on September, 11, 2001. He had aspirations of being a part of the military since he was a child, and attack on the Twin Towers sealed his enlistment.
“9/11 had a pretty big impact on me, so I wanted to join right away,” Weber told TeamUSA. “You see it and you can’t believe it’s happening,” Weber told the Denver Post. “You want to go and right that wrong. It’s kind of the way I am.”
While he was training on active duty overseas, he stumbled upon a story about Justin Olsen, a bobsled gold medalist at the 2010 Vancouver Olympics. He decided he wanted to pursue the sport. Four years later, Weber is now a member of the bobsled team for this year’s Olympics in PyeongChang.
As a Green Beret serving his country, Weber trains for bobsled in some unusual locations with peculiar training exercises. As opposed to practicing on ice, he ran wind sprints in the jungles of Cameroon and pushed ATVs in the Sahara desert. In fact, he was once training in Afghanistan when a mortar nearly struck him whilst doing a workout.
During his deployments, Weber served as the crew’s medic while also carrying out medical services for locals in the communities. He was known as “Dr. Nate,” constantly trying to improve the lives of others around him.
“Green Berets are shooters first and teachers first and leaders of other soldiers first,” Weber told TeamUSA. “[My] specialties kind of come second, I was the medic, I was that guy for our deployments.”
Weber’s current duty station is in Fort Carson, but he’s often gone competing on the bobsled circuit thanks to the approval from his superiors. Weber is now in South Korea and will try to bring home a medal to the United States. He competes on February 24 and 25.
