“Black Hawk Down” Commander to Speak at Las Vegas Breakfast Club

Colonel Daniel McKnight, commander of the 3rd Ranger Battalion, became famous when the operation which he led became embroiled in brutal, urban street fighting in Mogadishu, Somailia when he attempted to rescue the pilots from a downed UH-60 Black Hawk helicopter. His ordeal and heroism became part of the book and later movie, “Black Hawk Down.” Colonel Daniel McKnight has chosen to speak on “Leadership: The Positive Effect on the People around You” on Friday, September 14th at 7:00 AM at the Emerald at Queensridge in Las Vegas.

"Black Hawk Down" is the story of a group of elite U.S. soldiers who were sent into Mogadishu, Somalia to abduct two key members of warlord Mohamed Farrah Aidid's staff. The country was in the grips of a bloody civil war and a crippling famine, and Aidid and his murderous cronies were stealing United Nations relief food supplies.

Included in the mission, were the Rangers, under McKnight's command, along with covert Delta Force soldiers and members of the 160th SOAR (Special Operations Aviation Regiment), who pilot the "Black Hawk" helicopters.
It was supposed to have been a simple, 30-minute mission but it turned into a 16-hour nightmare of chaos and carnage. The final tally: Eighteen Americans and an estimated 500 Somalis dead.

Actor Tom Sizemore plays Lt. Col. Danny McKnight, as a stoic, clear-thinking man who puts his men's safety ahead of his own. McKnight told the New York Times, "I like to think that I was fairly calm during it, because they look to certain people," McKnight explained. "They're going to look to the boss, per se. And his reactions mean a whole lot. My soldiers told me, 'Sir, we appreciate the way you were, because you gave us the impression everything was going to be OK. Even as bad as it was.' "

Colonel Danny McKnight will be in Las Vegas to speak at the Breakfast Club’s monthly meeting on Friday, September 14th at 7:00 AM at Emerald at Queensridge , 891 Rampart Blvd. For more information or how you can attend this event, email Steve Zak of the Breakfast Club. You must RSVP by September 12th for the 14th breakfast. You can RSVP by sending an email to Steve Zak at steven@southwestbca.com. The Breakfast Club is invitation only-networking organization. Unlike traditional networking groups, the Breakfast Club members make a special effort to meet and do business with their members. Parts of this release were from an article by Bill DeYoung of the New York Times, “The real thing: Vet recounts ’Black Hawk Down’”