Self-Defense TRAINING
Super 61 was the first Black Hawk helicopter to be shot down during 1993’s Battle of Mogadishu, killing pilot Chief Warrant Officer Cliff “Elvis” Wolcott and copilot Chief Warrant Officer Donovan “Bull” Briley.
LESSONS FROM BLACK HAWK DOWN Part I: Nine personal defense truths through the lens of the Battle of Mogadishu.
STORY AND PHOTOS BY PAUL PAWELA
Editor’s note: As the 28th anniversary of the Battle of Mogadishu between US forces and Somali militiamen took place early last month, the author, having many close personal friends who fought in that engagement, sought to use the lessons learned in Mogadishu, as gleaned from Mark Bowden’s book Black Hawk Down, and apply them to the civilian world of personal defense. This is part one of the article. Part two will appear next month.
A
s a lifelong student of hoplology (the science that studies human combative behavior and performance), I am always researching and gathering as much credible and
useful information on the subject of combatives as possible. If you are similarly inclined, then I recommend Mark Bowden’s Black Hawk Down as required reading on the application of both modern and urban warfare. The popular book, as well as the Academy Award-winning 2001 film of the same name, depicts the
courageous performance of US Army Rangers, Delta Force and SEAL Team Six operators during the now-famous battle in Mogadishu, Somalia. I studied the lessons learned and how they apply in other defensive situations, such as civilian personal encounters. This article outlines key points from Bowden’s book and parallels that might offer you some personal takeaways from the hard-fought lessons of Mogadishu. POINT ONE: The book Black Hawk Down states, “War was ugly and evil, for sure, but it was still the way things got americanshootingjournal.com 47
