Biography
Michael Durant, CW4 (Retired), US Army; born July 23, 1961 in Berlin, NH. He entered
the United States Army in August 1979. Following basic training he attended the
Defense Language Institute, and was then assigned to the 470th Military
Intelligence Group, Fort Clayton, Panama as a Spanish voice intercept operator.
He then completed helicopter flight training at Fort Rucker, Alabama. Upon
appointment to Warrant Officer 1 in November 1983, he completed the UH60
Black-hawk Qualification Course and was assigned to the 377th Medical Evacuation
Company, Seoul Korea. His next assignment was with the 101st Aviation
Battalion, Fort Campbell, Kentucky, where he performed duties as an instructor
pilot.
Michael joined the 160th Special Operations Group on August 1, 1988. Assigned to D company, he performed duties as Flight Lead and Standardization Instructor Pilot. He participated in combat operations Prime Chance (Persian Gulf in 1989), Just Cause (Panama invasion in 1989), Desert Storm (Liberation of Kuwait in 1991), and Gothic Serpent (Somalia in 1993).
On October 3, 1993, while piloting an MH60 Black-hawk in Mogadishu, Somalia, he was shot down and held captive by hostile forces. He was released eleven days later.
He is now a Director of Business Development for NLX Corporation, a training and simulation company based in Sterling, Virginia. He has a Bachelor of Science degree in Professional Aeronautics and a Master of Business Administration in Aviation degree from Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University.
He is a master aviator, qualified in the UH-1 Huey, MH-6 Loach, and MH-60A, L, and K models of the Black-hawk. He has a total of 3,700 flight hours with over 1,400 under Night Vision Goggles.
Awards include the Distinguished Service Medal, the Distinguished Flying Cross with oak leaf cluster, Bronze Star with Valor device, Purple Heart, Meritorious Service Medal, three Air Medals, one with Valor device, the POW/MIA ribbon, the Army Commendation Medal with three Oak Leaf Clusters, and numerous other awards.
He is the author of the New York Times Bestseller In the Company of Heroes. Michael and his wife Lisa have six children, four boys and two girls.
