James Lechner
Retired U.S. Army lieutenant colonel and former Army Ranger, Battle of Mogadishu veteran, and author of With My Shield
James Lechner (Retired U.S. Army lieutenant colonel and former Army Ranger, Battle of Mogadishu veteran, and author of With My Shield) has appeared as a guest on 1 episode in TMT. Topics they speak about most include Battle of Mogadishu (1993), Russian invasion of Ukraine, War in Afghanistan (2001–2021).
In their words
Positions and remarks grouped by topic, each with the exact quote and where it was said.
Battle of Mogadishu (1993)
Lechner says the mandated UHF radios were jammed by the downed helicopter's emergency beacon, forcing him to use a backup FM radio.
“It broadcasts on UHF and it Zed out and overrode and jammed our UHF radios”
The Shawn Ryan Show: #346 James Lechner - Army Ranger Recounts the Battle of Mogadishu: Black Hawk Down (Oct 8, 2026) · Listen from 1:36:45
Lechner says five Black Hawks were brought down by enemy fire that day, three of which crashed in friendly territory.
“that day they actually brought down five Black Hawks. And that's another thing that most people don't know”
The Shawn Ryan Show: #346 James Lechner - Army Ranger Recounts the Battle of Mogadishu: Black Hawk Down (Oct 8, 2026) · Listen from 1:30:31
Lechner says al-Qaeda fighters sent by Osama bin Laden taught Aidid's militia to modify RPGs for anti-aircraft use.
“taught him how to modify rocket-propelled grenades to be able to shoot up in the air”
The Shawn Ryan Show: #346 James Lechner - Army Ranger Recounts the Battle of Mogadishu: Black Hawk Down (Oct 8, 2026) · Listen from 1:18:03
Lechner recounts choosing extra ammunition over night vision and water for the raid, a choice he later regretted.
“I would love to have had night vision in the fight that was coming, but that's the decision that I had to make”
The Shawn Ryan Show: #346 James Lechner - Army Ranger Recounts the Battle of Mogadishu: Black Hawk Down (Oct 8, 2026) · Listen from 1:04:26
Lechner says the task force wrongly concluded after the Atto raid that Somali fighters could not shoot down their helicopters.
“The other thing that we thought was they can't shoot us down. Our helicopters are moving too fast”
The Shawn Ryan Show: #346 James Lechner - Army Ranger Recounts the Battle of Mogadishu: Black Hawk Down (Oct 8, 2026) · Listen from 44:07
Russian invasion of Ukraine
Lechner says he tells Ukrainians they will not win militarily or regain their lost territory.
“You're not going to win militarily. You're not going to get your territory back”
The Shawn Ryan Show: #346 James Lechner - Army Ranger Recounts the Battle of Mogadishu: Black Hawk Down (Oct 8, 2026) · Listen from 3:18:01
Lechner argues that ending the war requires unified economic pressure on Russia and that Trump is the only leader who can marshal it.
“It's going to take unified economic pressure from Europe and the United States. I firmly believe President Trump is the only person that can do it”
The Shawn Ryan Show: #346 James Lechner - Army Ranger Recounts the Battle of Mogadishu: Black Hawk Down (Oct 8, 2026) · Listen from 3:12:26
Lechner argues that Europe, especially Germany, has relied on U.S. security for decades and should pay for the war.
“In my view, Europe has just grown fat off us for the last 50 to 75 years”
The Shawn Ryan Show: #346 James Lechner - Army Ranger Recounts the Battle of Mogadishu: Black Hawk Down (Oct 8, 2026) · Listen from 3:02:28
Lechner says American troops should not fight in Ukraine, though the U.S. should support Ukrainians who fight for themselves.
“I do not think US soldiers should be in there. I do not think American soldiers should shed their blood in there”
The Shawn Ryan Show: #346 James Lechner - Army Ranger Recounts the Battle of Mogadishu: Black Hawk Down (Oct 8, 2026) · Listen from 3:01:52
War in Afghanistan (2001–2021)
Lechner argues the Afghanistan war was managed so badly that Vietnam looks well run by comparison.
“Vietnam compared to Afghanistan, it looks like it was run by a military genius like Clausewitz”
The Shawn Ryan Show: #346 James Lechner - Army Ranger Recounts the Battle of Mogadishu: Black Hawk Down (Oct 8, 2026) · Listen from 2:55:13
Lechner holds senior U.S. military leaders, more than political leaders, responsible for failures in Iraq and Afghanistan.
“I really hold the senior military leaders at fault for a lot of what went on in Iraq and Afghanistan later on”
The Shawn Ryan Show: #346 James Lechner - Army Ranger Recounts the Battle of Mogadishu: Black Hawk Down (Oct 8, 2026) · Listen from 2:45:52
Counterinsurgency
Lechner argues that focusing solely on destroying insurgent forces fails because the population keeps replenishing them.
“So if you focus on destroying the military forces that they put against you, you're never going to win. You're cutting grass”
The Shawn Ryan Show: #346 James Lechner - Army Ranger Recounts the Battle of Mogadishu: Black Hawk Down (Oct 8, 2026) · Listen from 2:41:16
Lechner argues that the U.S. government, as distinct from the military, performs poorly at foreign interventions and foreign policy.
“The U.S. government is horrible at trying to do foreign interventions and foreign policy”
The Shawn Ryan Show: #346 James Lechner - Army Ranger Recounts the Battle of Mogadishu: Black Hawk Down (Oct 8, 2026) · Listen from 9:31
Battle of Ramadi (2006)
Lechner says partnering with Sheikh Sattar's tribe expanded Ramadi's police force dramatically within about six months.
“So we went from 200 cops to 5,000. We went from two stations to over 20 stations”
The Shawn Ryan Show: #346 James Lechner - Army Ranger Recounts the Battle of Mogadishu: Black Hawk Down (Oct 8, 2026) · Listen from 2:36:10
Lechner says Ramadi accounted for about 30% of U.S. casualties in Iraq when his brigade was assigned there.
“Ramadi at that time accounted for 30% of all the casualties in Iraq, one city”
The Shawn Ryan Show: #346 James Lechner - Army Ranger Recounts the Battle of Mogadishu: Black Hawk Down (Oct 8, 2026) · Listen from 2:23:55
Drone warfare
Lechner reports that Colombian International Legion veterans, including FARC and cartel members, are using drone skills learned in Ukraine against Colombia's government.
“were FARC guys, cartel guys. And they have now gone back to Colombia, and they're using those skills against the Colombian government”
The Shawn Ryan Show: #346 James Lechner - Army Ranger Recounts the Battle of Mogadishu: Black Hawk Down (Oct 8, 2026) · Listen from 3:07:18
United States war with Iran
Lechner supports the strategic goal of preventing a nuclear Iran but says the war has not been conducted effectively.
“I think the strategic objectives in Iran are correct. Having a nuclear power in Iran is unacceptable”
The Shawn Ryan Show: #346 James Lechner - Army Ranger Recounts the Battle of Mogadishu: Black Hawk Down (Oct 8, 2026) · Listen from 3:05:54
Isolationism
Lechner opposes isolationism, arguing that past U.S. retreats contributed to both World Wars.
“We've tried isolationism twice, and both of them, at least in part, resulted in the World Wars”
The Shawn Ryan Show: #346 James Lechner - Army Ranger Recounts the Battle of Mogadishu: Black Hawk Down (Oct 8, 2026) · Listen from 2:59:55
Walter Reed Army Medical Center
Lechner credits a medic's advice to seek treatment at Walter Reed rather than Fort Benning with saving his leg.
“that's probably the best advice I've ever gotten in the military”
The Shawn Ryan Show: #346 James Lechner - Army Ranger Recounts the Battle of Mogadishu: Black Hawk Down (Oct 8, 2026) · Listen from 1:55:47
Task Force Ranger
Lechner argues that a key mistake was the lack of a single ground commander, and that the Delta squadron commander should have been on the ground.
“In my opinion, the commander of the operation was the squadron commander from Delta. And I think he should have been on the ground commanding that”
The Shawn Ryan Show: #346 James Lechner - Army Ranger Recounts the Battle of Mogadishu: Black Hawk Down (Oct 8, 2026) · Listen from 1:27:06
Appearances
#346 James Lechner - Army Ranger Recounts the Battle of Mogadishu: Black Hawk DownThe Shawn Ryan Show · Oct 8, 2026 · 3 h 20 min
Retired Army Ranger James Lechner tells Shawn Ryan about fighting and being wounded in the 1993 Battle of Mogadishu, turning around Ramadi, Afghanistan policy failures, and the war in Ukraine.
Often appears with
- Shawn Ryan · 1 shared episode