At the GMS Expo 2025 in San Diego, Retired First Sgt. Matt Eversmann, U.S. Army—the Ranger whose story was told in Black Hawk Down—delivered a keynote that gripped walls and ceilings professionals. Drawing on his combat experience in Somalia, he introduced the concept of “strategic shock” and posed a sobering challenge: Are you ready to lead when disaster strikes?

Eversmann explained that “strategic shock,” a term he learned after leaving the Army, describes catastrophic events that strike suddenly and force immediate action—fight or flight. He pointed to 9/11, the 2004 tsunami, and the 2008 financial crisis as defining examples. Then he pressed the audience to consider whether their companies could function if disaster hit while leadership was away, and whether they valued people or processes more in a crisis.

To illustrate, Eversmann recounted his experience in Mogadishu during Operation Gothic Serpent in 1993. He described the chaos of a failed state where survival depended on speed and firepower. Just days before the mission to capture warlord Mohamed Farrah Aidid, he was unexpectedly promoted to team leader at age 26—a responsibility he admitted both terrified and humbled him.

The climax of his talk came with the Battle of Mogadishu. What was supposed to be a 30-minute raid turned into an 18-hour fight after his helicopter was dropped in the wrong location during a sandstorm. Suddenly, he faced a wounded soldier, no radio contact, and heavy fire from three directions. In that moment of personal “strategic shock,” fear threatened to overwhelm him—until he watched his Rangers perform their duties under fire. The takeaway: when systems fail, people matter most.

From that experience, Eversmann distilled three principles of crisis leadership:

• Act independently — make decisions without waiting for orders.
• Act organically — be authentic and deliver only what you can.
• Act decisively — choose a course quickly; paralysis is fatal.

His message to contractors was clear: crisis is inevitable, but leaders who train, act authentically, and make timely decisions give their teams the best chance to adapt and overcome.