#346 James Lechner - Army Ranger Recounts the Battle of Mogadishu: Black Hawk Down
Lt. Col. James Lechner (Ret.) is a 27-year U.S. Army veteran and former Army Ranger whose deployments span Somalia, Bosnia, Iraq, Afghanistan, and Ukraine. As a young Ranger officer, he fought with Task Force Ranger in the 1993 Battle of Mogadishu, where he was wounded in combat and awarded the Purple Heart. He later served as deputy brigade commander during the Battle of Ramadi and held assignments with SOCOM and the CIA. Most recently, Lechner traveled to Ukraine—first as a war correspondent and later training and advising Ukrainian forces, including service with the International Legion. Today, he works in the drone and counter-drone defense space, serves as an adjunct professor of American and Military History at Liberty University, and is the author of With My Shield. Shawn Ryan Show Sponsors: Privacy Isn't Paranoia. It's Protection. Download Glacier - https://theglacierapp.com Protect your family with life insurance from Ethos. Get up to $3 million in coverage in as little as 10 minutes at https://ethos.com/SRS. Application times may vary. Rates may vary. Trustpilot rating as of 8/1/2026. Go to https://calderalab.com/SRS and use code SRS for 20% off your first order. Make the switch to Sundays for Dogs and get 50% off your first order at https://sundaysfordogs.com/SRS50 or use code SRS50 at checkout. Get started with Claude at https://claude.ai/srs Visit https://betterhelp.com/srs #ad James Lechner Links: Book: With My Shield - https://a.co/d/06aHhXRe Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/James.lechner Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/james.lechner.2025 X - https://x.com/Lechner_jim Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices