When Colombian rebels took several political officers hostages at the country’s embassy, including Pierce’s daughter, Fury came up with a plan to get the hostages out.
Pierce nixed the idea, preferring to negotiate with the rebels, but Fury ignored those orders and implemented his plan anyway.
Fury eventually became the Deputy Chief of S.H.I.E.L.D.’s Bogota station, and it was there that he proved his leadership mettle.
Unlike his comic book counterparts, Samuel L. Jackson’s Nick Fury didn’t fight in World War II and has not been kept alive for over a century by the Infinity Formula.