A combat veteran, he served as an enlisted soldier and later as a commissioned officer in the U.S. Army Special Forces ("Green Berets"), attaining the rank of captain.

[10] 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.

[11] Hawke also hosted the Discovery Channel show, One Man Army, 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.

[12][13] 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.

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.