Lt. Col. Nicholas W. Sikes is from the great state of Texas and commissioned into the Army from Texas A&M University, College Station, Texas, as a Military Intelligence (MI) officer, branch detailed to Infantry in 2003. After the Infantry Officer Basic Course and Ranger School, Sikes became an Infantry Platoon Leader and Company XO in C Company, 1-17 IN Regt, 172nd Stryker Brigade Combat Team (BCT), Fort Wainwright, Alaska. He completed a 16-month deployment to Iraq while with the 172nd SBCT.
After completion of the MI Captains Career Course, Sikes served as the Senior Intelligence Officer for a brigade-level National Police Transition Team in Samarra, Iraq. Following the Counterintelligence Special Agent Course in 2010, he joined 2d MI Battalion, 66th MI Brigade in Wiesbaden, Germany, where he successfully commanded C Company for 20 months.
After a follow-on assignment with the European Cryptologic Center and deployment in support of the Joint Task Force to Afghanistan, Sikes attended the Command and General Staff College at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas. Following CGSC, Sikes assumed the role of Bastogne 2 as the Senior Intelligence Officer for 1st BCT, 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault) for two years, including one year as the Regionally Aligned Brigade for U.S. Africa Command.
His follow-on assignment was to Army Joint Surveillance Target Attack Radar System (JSTARS) where he deployed with Team JSTARS to support U.S. INDOPACIFIC Command, before being selected as the Commander, Army JSTARS in the summer of 2018. Sikes relinquished Command of Army JSTARS to fill his new role as the Army Fellow to the Asia-Pacific Center for Security Studies from 2020-2021. He subsequently served as the Analysis and Control Element Chief for the US Army Pacific’s brand-new Theater Fires Element before assuming his current position as the Commander, 311th MI Battalion (Forward Collection), 500th MI Brigade - Theater.
Besides those listed above, Sikes’ military education includes: Airborne School; Infantry Officer Basic Course, Ranger School, Modern Army Combatives Level I; Defense Strategic Debriefer’s Course; Combat Tracker Course; CI Special Agent Course, Stop-Gap Red Team Leaders Course; Air Assault School; and multiple Survival, Evasion, Resistance and Escape Schools.
His decorations include the Bronze Star Medal (1OLC), Meritorious Service Medal (2OLC), Air Force Aerial Achievement Medal, Joint Service Commendation Medal, Army Commendation Medal (1OLC), Joint Service Achievement Medal, Army Achievement Medal 1OLC), Joint Meritorious Unit Award (1OLC), Valorous Unit Award, Military Outstanding Volunteer Service Medal, the Ranger Tab, Air Assault Wings, German Armed Forces Proficiency, Combat Infantryman’s, Basic Aviation, and Parachutist Badges. Additionally, he earned the Knowlton Award.
Sikes is a former student of Texas A&M University, where he earned a double bachelor's of Business Administration in Accounting and Finance. He is also a graduate of the University of Oklahoma, Norman, Oklahoma, where he earned dual master' degrees in International Relations and Human Relations.
Sikes is married to his best friend, and together they have five children. As a family, they enjoy church activities, volunteering on their post and in their local community, hiking, most sports, and board/card games.