BlackHawk® Products Group™
4850 Brookside Court
Norfolk, VA 23502
Phone (800) 694-5263
Fax (888) 830-2013
www.blackhawk.com

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Norfolk, VA -- Mike Noell, President and CEO, of BlackHawk Products Group announced that Michael Janich will be joining Masters of Defense as the Director of Product Development and will head up the MOD Training Alliance initiative. “Michael Janich is a recognized expert in the field of knife design and one of the industry’s premier instructors in edged-weapon tactics.” stated Noell. “ MOD has always approached introducing new products by matching innovative product design with user needs and progressive training doctrine. Mike joining the team will really accelerate these initiatives. We will incorporate his expertise as a trainer very early in the design concept phase of product development projects. The addition of Mike also allows us to create the foundation of both MOD’s and BlackHawk’s Training Alliance programs,” Noell said.

Jim Ray, Founder and MOD Brand Manager explains, “When we started looking for the best in the industry to join the MOD management team, we immediately went to Michael Janich. He really understands the tactical knife industry. He has authored six books and 11 instructional videos on self-defense. Mike has worked within the knife industry in collaboration with design teams creating prototypes and has studied martial arts and defensive tactics for over 25 years. This extensive experience has allowed him to develop a training doctrine that will greatly influence our product line and insure other trainers receive from MOD both the tools and the support they require.”

“I am joining BlackHawk because MOD represents the epitome of what should be happening in the tactical knife industry. Where most knife companies rely on makers vs. users, MOD collaborates with expert trainers up front in the design process thus elevating the state of the art,” states Janich.

Mr. Janich’s career includes 15 years of distinguished military & civilian service including service with the DIA and NSA as well as leading teams during field investigations to determine the fates of American Prisoners of War / Missing in Action (POW/MIA) from the Indo China Conflict. Mike founded the Martial Blade Craft & Counter-Blade Craft defense edged-weapons programs and has 10 years of experience as Video Production Manager at Paladin Press.

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About BlackHawk Products Group
BlackHawk, founded in 1993 by President and CEO Mike Noell, is recognized as the world leader in supplying tactical equipment to the military and law enforcement markets. Mike was trained as a US Navy SEAL and incorporated that experience and discipline in building a company dedicated to designing equipment for the preservation of life under the worst extremes.

BlackHawk Products Group was formed in 2003 to accelerate the pace of introducing new best-in-class products to the performance oriented tactical market through intensive internal R&D initiatives and selective acquisitions. BPG acquired MOD tactical knives in November of 2003. Delta Design Group was acquired in December of 2003 to strengthen and direct the BPG R&D effort. The recently acquired Jungst Scientific further expands on these capabilities. BlackHawk Products Group will make future announcements about other recent acquisitions and strategic alliances to coincide with their formal product launches.

BlackHawk is headquartered in Norfolk, Virginia with offices in Montana, North Carolina, Nevada, Idaho and Germany.

Michael Janich
M.O.D. Director of Product Development