Kriti Mehrotra
It was October 3, 1993, when the US humanitarian mission to alleviate famine in Somalia turned deadly in a way no one could have ever imagined. This has even been explored in the 2001 war film ‘Black Hawk Down’ as well as Netflix’s docuseries ‘Surviving Black Hawk Down,’ both of which recall this Battle of Mogadishu in extraordinary detail. Amongst those to feature in the latter is none other than then-Army Ranger David Diemer, who was right there in the middle of the action and remembers almost every bit of it.
David Diemer’s Military Service Was Far From Smooth Sailing
While David Diemer admittedly wasn’t into academics or patriotism as a young man, things changed for him in the early 1990s with the news of the Gulf War and how the US-dominated it all. That’s when he admittedly decided to trade his days of drinking beer and smoking pot for training in the Ranger Indoctrination Program (RIP) in the Army’s renowned 75th Ranger Regiment. He reportedly passed with flying colors, resulting in him being assigned to the 3rd Ranger Battalion, through which he subsequently became a part of several high-threat missions across the globe.
One of these missions was Operation Gothic Serpent during the Somali Civil War in 1993, wherein the primary objective was to capture national alliance leader/warlord Mohamed Farrah Aidid. According to David’s own accounts, they had intel about two of this leader’s lieutenants coming together for a meeting on October 3, so the task force executed an assignment to capture them. But alas, what really ensued was they were ambushed, with three of their Black Hawk helicopters ultimately being shot down and culminating in 18 hours of chaos, later called the Battle of Mogadishu.
David is admittedly incredibly fortunate to be alive since he was right in the chaos of it, yet more than luck, it was his calm demeanor, skill sets, as well as strategic thinking that helped him survive. He expressed in the aforementioned show that he goes calm when faced with adversity, and that evening was no different despite the fact that gunfire, screams, and orders were all he could hear. He didn’t want any American life already lost to be in vain, so he didn’t hesitate in opening fire on the streets of Somalia and was later disturbed when orders came to cease all combat operations.
David Diemer Has Long Evolved into a Security Specialist
Despite David wanting to continue fighting, possibly like many of his fellow rangers, he knew he could do nothing since being a soldier meant following direct orders coming from higher-ups. Nevertheless, he served his nation for another five years before being honorably discharged in 1997, by which point he had already received a Bronze Star plus Airborne Wings for his services. It subsequently took him some time to readjust to civilian life, yet his feelings towards the battle or his experience itself never once waivered. He still asserts that people there were the enemies that day.
Since then, though, David has learned to move forward in life, only to find his calling in the security industry as a private personal employee turned renowned entrepreneur. He actually kickstarted his career here in 2003 as a Security Specialist plus Tactical Commander at Blackwater Protection, following which he began dabbling into many personal protection roles. In fact, by the time 2004 rolled around, he was providing his services to some confidential celebrities, dignitaries, and people in positions of power across the US, Iraq, Africa, as well as the Middle East.
In 2005, David became an Instructor/Deputy Program Manager at a now-defunct private company named USIS before growing into a Shift Leader at another such firm called SAIC in Iraq. Around 4 years later is when he took the next step and became the Chief of Security for a Forbes Top 5 principal and his family in New York, where he proudly remained until around 2016. From what we can tell, he only left this position once his own business, REACH 29 (established in 2011), began taking off as a true full-service veteran-owned and operated security agency. So today, seemingly splitting his time between New York City, New York, and West Palm Beach, Florida, David serves as the CEO of this company while also likely embracing all civilian experiences.
Read More: Mike Durant: Where is the Ex-Army Pilot Now?
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