Michael D. Steele

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Michael Dane Steele (born September 15, 1960) is a retired colonel of the United States Army. He was a company commander in the 3rd Battalion, 75th Ranger Regiment in the Battle of Mogadishu (1993) in Somalia during Operation Gothic Serpent, which was the subject of the book and film Black Hawk Down. Growing up in northern Georgia, he was a star athlete in his high school football team and attended the University of Georgia in Athens, where he was commissioned from the Army Reserve Officer's Training Corps (ROTC) as an Infantry officer before being promoted to captain and moving to the 75th Ranger Regiment as the commander of Bravo Company, 3rd Battalion. The Rangers, led by their battalion commander Lt. Colonel Danny McKnight and his staff, including Steele, gained international recognition for their actions in Mogadishu while fighting alongside Delta Force and other elements of Army Special Operations Command, which resulted in Steele being awarded the Bronze Star for valor in combat and leadership of his company during the engagement. After the battle, he eventually moved to the 101st Airborne Division in the 2000s and served as a staff officer. Following the events of September 11th, 2001, and the beginning of the Global War on Terrorism he led air assault troops into action in Operation Enduring Freedom and Iraqi Freedom before retiring in 2010 with the rank of full colonel. He briefly appears in the documentary I Am an American Soldier. Steele was investigated in conjunction with the murders of three unarmed Iraqis during Operation Iron Triangle. The four soldiers charged in the case testified that Steele had instructed them to "kill all military-age males". Steele denied giving such an order, and was formally reprimanded but not charged.