There were several different ways by which nationalist colonial leaders became exposed to "revolutionary ideals" which they then took their home country to seek self determination. Since I am only really familiar with French Algeria, my answers will be specific to that conflict.

In general upward social mobility was denied to Algerian Muslims. The local politics in Colonial Algeria was a quasi-apartheid system that specifically denied equal representation to Algerians. Military service was a way for Algerians to get benefits and rights that were otherwise denied to them. France was also unique among European powers in WWI and (and to a lesser extent) WWII by having colonial regiments serve in the European theaters. Some specific examples below.

Ahmed Ben Bella, is the type of leader you are looking for. He volunteered for service in the French military during WWII (where he served with distinction). Post war he became active in the Algerian independence movement and was a founding member of the Organization Speciale (OS) one of several pre-cursor organizations to the National Liberation Front (FLN). Ben Bella was a significant actor in FLN and later the post war government.

Ferhat Abbas is another Algerian leader in a similar mold. He also volunteered for military service and like Ben Bella was upset by the lack of equality he experienced during his military service. This directly lead to Abbas hardening his stance on independence until he became a fully fledged revolutionary. He was also a key political figure during and after the revolution.

A third example, which doesn't directly answer your question but which I think is super interesting, are Algerian soldiers radicalized during their French Military service abroad. Specifically Algerian junior officers and non-commissioned officers who became radicalized after service (and usually capture) in French Indo-china. The Viet-Minh actively attempted to "convert" captured Algerians who they viewed as "brothers-in-arms" for their anti-colonial struggle. Although I do not know much about him specifically, Silmane Hoffman, was an Algerian captured during the War in Indo-China who later became a military leader in the National Liberation Army (ALN) and the Minister of Defense in post-war Algeria.

Source notes - unfortunately when I was studying this my focus was on the movements and conflict as a whole rather than individual actors so my sources focus on this as well:

Alistair Horne, A Savage war of Peace. 1977

Paul Jureidini, Case Studies in Insurgency and Revolutionary Warfare: Algeria 1954-1962. 1963

For the section about Algerian leaders radicalized in Indo-China

Bernard B. Fall, Hell in a Very Small Place: The Siege of Dien Bien Phu. 1966