Mykel Hawke (born November 29, 1965) is a retired
U.S. Army Special Forces officer, author, and television and film personality. He is perhaps best known for the television programs he created on
Discovery Channel
Discovery Channel (known as The Discovery Channel from 1985 to 1995, and often referred to as simply Discovery) is an American cable channel owned by Warner Bros. Discovery, a publicly traded company run by CEO David Zaslav. , Discovery Chan ...
called ''
Man, Woman, Wild'' and ''
One Man Army
1 (one, unit, unity) is a number representing a single or the only entity. 1 is also a numerical digit and represents a single unit of counting or measurement. For example, a line segment of ''unit length'' is a line segment of length 1. ...
''. He left Discovery to work on two new programs: ''Lost Survivors'' for Travel Channel and ''Elite Tactical Unit'' for Outdoor Channel.
Education
A combat
veteran
A veteran () is a person who has significant experience (and is usually adept and esteemed) and expertise in a particular occupation or field. A military veteran is a person who is no longer serving in a military.
A military veteran that h ...
, he served as an enlisted soldier and later as a commissioned officer in the U.S. Army Special Forces ("
Green Berets
The United States Army Special Forces (SF), colloquially known as the "Green Berets" due to their distinctive service headgear, are a special operations force of the United States Army.
The Green Berets are geared towards nine doctrinal m ...
"), attaining the rank of
captain
Captain is a title, an appellative for the commanding officer of a military unit; the supreme leader of a navy ship, merchant ship, aeroplane, spacecraft, or other vessel; or the commander of a port, fire or police department, election precinct, e ...
. He fought rebels and trained
UN peacekeepers
Peacekeeping by the United Nations is a role held by the Department of Peace Operations as an "instrument developed by the organization as a way to help countries torn by conflict to create the conditions for lasting peace". It is distinguished ...
in war-torn Africa and did combat
search and rescue
Search and rescue (SAR) is the search for and provision of aid to people who are in distress or imminent danger. The general field of search and rescue includes many specialty sub-fields, typically determined by the type of terrain the search ...
missions during the drug war in
Colombia. He holds
black belts
In East Asian martial arts, the black belt is associated with expertise, but may indicate only competence, depending on the martial art. The use of colored belts is a relatively recent invention dating from the 1880s.
Origin
The systematic use ...
in
Aikido
Aikido ( , , , ) is a modern Japanese martial art that is split into many different styles, including Iwama Ryu, Iwama Shin Shin Aiki Shuren Kai, Shodokan Aikido, Yoshinkan, Renshinkai, Aikikai and Ki Aikido. Aikido is now practiced in a ...
and
judo
is an unarmed modern Japanese martial art, Olympic sport (since 1964), and the most prominent form of jacket wrestling competed internationally.『日本大百科全書』電子版【柔道】(CD-ROM version of Encyclopedia Nipponica, "Judo") ...
.
As required by the Army to be an officer, Hawke holds a college degree, a Bachelor of Science from the University of New York in Biology. He also holds a Master of Science degree from the University of California in Family Counseling. He was rated in seven languages in the Army and paid to learn three languages, the maximum allowed, documented in his published language book,
The Quick and Dirty Guide to Learning Languages Fast'.
Career
Military service
Hawke joined the US Army in 1982. He served on active duty for a total of 12 years; he also served in the Reserves and Guard for 12 more years. He was a
Sergeant First Class (E-7) before he took a commission as an Officer, 18A.
He held three Enlisted, Special Forces Military Occupational Skills (MOS):
*Special Forces Medic, 18D
*Special Forces Communicator, 18E
*Special Forces Intelligence Operations, 18F
He retired as a Captain in 2011 from the
1st Special Forces Command (Airborne)
The 1st Special Forces Command (Airborne) is a division-level special operations forces command within the United States Army Special Operations Command. The command was first established in 1989 and reorganized in 2014 grouping together the Arm ...
at
Fort Bragg, North Carolina
Fort Bragg is a military installation of the United States Army in North Carolina, and is one of the largest military installations in the world by population, with around 54,000 military personnel. The military reservation is located within Cu ...
.
Accolades
Author
Hawke has authored numerous books and manuals, including the following:
*2000: ''The Quick and Dirty Guide to Learning Languages Fast'' – Paladin Press, (authored under a pen name "A.G.
Hawke")
*2009: ''Hawke's Green Beret Survival Manual'' – Running Press,
*2010: ''In the Dark of the Sun'' – Pixel Dragon Press, (co-authored with Kim Martin)
*2011: ''Hawke's Special Forces Survival Handbook: The Portable Guide to Getting Out Alive'' – Running Press,
*2019: ''Family Survival Guide: The Best Ways for Families to Prepare, Train, Pack, and Survive Everything'' - Skyhorse Publishing,
*2019: ''Foraging for Survival: Edible Wild Plants of North America'' - Skyhorse Publishing,
*2019: ''The Quick and Dirty Guide to Learning Languages Fast'' - Racehorse Publishing, (re-issue)
*2021: ''Under a Hard Blue Sky'' - Pixel Dragon Press, (co-authored with Kim Martin)
He has also contributed to numerous books.
Television
Hawke has appeared in over 50 TV shows, including:
''The Men Who Built America: Frontiersmen'' (2018)
This TV mini-series by the History Channel, executive-produced by Leonardo DiCaprio, looks at the lives of iconic pioneers such as Daniel Boone, Lewis and Clark, Tecumseh, Davy Crocket and Andrew Jackson as they traveled across America. Hawke was featured as a combat vet and survivalist.
''Man, Woman, Wild'' (2010–2012)
The show featured Hawke and his wife, Ruth, as they had to survive for a half week with limited supplies in wild and inhospitable locations around the world.
''One Man Army'' (2011–2012)
Hawke also hosted the Discovery Channel show, ''
One Man Army
1 (one, unit, unity) is a number representing a single or the only entity. 1 is also a numerical digit and represents a single unit of counting or measurement. For example, a line segment of ''unit length'' is a line segment of length 1. ...
'', in which personnel from backgrounds such as
special operations, military, law enforcement, and extreme sports, competed in three areas of speed, strength, and intelligence to win prize money.
''Lost Survivors'' (2013)
The Travel Channel has released six episodes of the series entitled ''Lost Survivors'' in which Mykel and Ruth Hawke find themselves in
remote areas around the world with minimal supplies and few clues as to their actual whereabouts. The couple must then rely on instinct, expertise, and the strength of each other in order to effect their own rescue from these remote locations.
Other appearances
2022: Hawke appeared on the "Discovery Channel's India's Ultimate Warrior"
2020: Mykel teaches Survival to Matthew Broderick & Cast of Netflix TV Show "DayBreak"
2019: Hawke is Resident Expert interviewed on History's Frontiersmen by Leonardo DiCaprio
2006: Hawke appeared as a guest in ''
Dirty Sanchez: The Movie'' to teach
Mathew Pritchard
Mathew Pritchard (born 30 March 1973) is a Welsh professional skateboarder, stunt performer, and celebrity chef. He regularly appeared as a stunt performer on '' Dirty Sanchez'', '' Wrecked'', and '' Balls of Steel''. In 2019, he hosted the fi ...
,
Lee Dainton,
Michael "Pancho" Locke and
Dan Joyce survival skills.
Hawke appeared with wife Ruth on ABC's ''The Bachelor'' in episode 4 of Arie's season, 2018, where they instructed some of the women in survival on a group date.
He was also one of four survival experts featured in the Discovery Channel's short-lived series, ''Science of Survival''. In Episode 2, "Escape from the Amazon", Mykel spends three days in the Amazon, reducing his survival gear each successive day.
He also appeared in an episode of the fifth season of ''The Simple Life'' (styled as ''The Simple Life Goes to Camp'') in 2007, appearing in episodes 7 and 8, as a survival expert, helping campers learn the basics of survival.
Personal life
In 2005, Hawke married Ruth England. They currently reside in
Miami, Florida
Miami ( ), officially the City of Miami, known as "the 305", "The Magic City", and "Gateway to the Americas", is a coastal metropolis and the county seat of Miami-Dade County in South Florida, United States. With a population of 442,241 at th ...
, with their son who was born in London, England.
Hawke established a combat medic school in
Azerbaijan
Azerbaijan (, ; az, Azərbaycan ), officially the Republic of Azerbaijan, , also sometimes officially called the Azerbaijan Republic is a transcontinental country located at the boundary of Eastern Europe and Western Asia. It is a part of th ...
.
References
External links
*
The Travel Channel's Lost SurvivorsMan Woman Wild renewed for a second season*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Hawke, Mykel
1965 births
American male writers
Living people
People from Kentucky
United States Army soldiers
Members of the United States Army Special Forces
Participants in American reality television series
Survivalists
New York University alumni
University of California, Santa Barbara alumni
Discovery Channel people