Mission43 Podcast

PHOTO ALBUM: 43INC with Jake Wood, Team Rubicon

2017 Accomplishments

At the end of 2017, Mission43 was still less than two years old as an organization. However, we didn’t let our age get in the way of making things happen through our pillars of education, employment, purpose, and connection. By creating quality opportunities in these areas and bringing forward the attributes of veterans and military spouses, we can make Idaho communities a stronger place. Each pillar organization brought solid leadership to the table with a similar mindset that veterans ar...

43INC: The New Connection Pillar of Mission43

Mission43 is focused on the four pillars of education, employment, purpose, and connection. Under each pillar is one incredible organization, and together they form a community of opportunity that can help our currently serving military, veterans, and military spouses succeed in Idaho. We are excited to announce that moving forward in 2018, 43INC has become the new organization for our connection pillar. INC stands for Innovate + Network + Connect. It’s where we set the conditions and then...

PHOTO ALBUM: 2017 Potato Bowl VIP Tent

Here’s how we are helping veterans lead, learn, and inspire in Idaho

The following is a guest opinion piece published in the Idaho Statesman on November 10th, 2017. LINK TO ARTICLE As we mark Veterans Day, it’s good to take a few moments to reflect on how we in Idaho might create a new, more relevant and practical process for helping recently separated military service members make the transition back to civilian life. I’m the program director for Mission43, a partnership of four premier veteran service organizations dedicated to ensuring that former mili...

October Impact and Upcoming Opportunities

OCTOBER RECAP We didn’t slow down much for the month of October. On the 5th, our first cohort of members completed the three-week Entrepreneurs Sprint with the Boise State University Venture College. This fast paced program uses the Lean Startup Methodology and provided an opportunity for our members to propel their non-profit or business idea into an actionable plan. We are about to announce the dates for our next cohort so stay tuned if you are interested! Learn more about the programin ...

Three Take-Aways from 43INC with a 3x Olympic Gold Medalist

KRISTIN ARMSTRONG We have sat down with some incredible guests at Mission43 INC. Josh Cleghorn and Butch Whiting are the co-founders of the Eagle, Idaho based Kryptek Outdoor Group. Brian Stann is the recipient of the Silver Star, fought in the UFC, and is the former CEO of Hire Heroes USA. The Nunez sisters have turned military surplus gear into a highly respected fashion brand with their company, Sword & Plough. Now, we have had the opportunity to hear from the most decorated U.S. women’...

Pathways to Entrepreneurship: The M43 Lean Startup Course

One of the great things about serving our country in uniform is defending the freedom to live out the American dream. For many, this means taking the risk to start your own business. The Mission43 team believes veterans and military spouses are well equipped with the experience and skills to accomplish this, and we have heard from an increasing number of members who are interested in pathways to doing this after the military. Our challenge then became finding a program to make this possible...

VIDEO: 43INC with Kristin Armstrong, Olympic Gold Medalist

PHOTO ALBUM: 43INC with Kristin Armstrong, Olympic Gold Medalist

WHEN SEPTEMBER ENDS...

We can sum up September 2017 with the 9.11 Moving Tribute, Team Rubicon Sawyer Training, and lots more quality hires! The team is always ready for a challenge, so we embarked on a pretty ambitious way to honor 9.11. Last year, the Mission43 pillar organizations carried the flag from sunrise to sunset around Kleiner Park in Meridian and we learned the community really saw this as a meaninful tribute. This year we decided to carry the Flag of Honor, bearing the names of all the first responde...

Prison Partners: Boise Bicycle Project and Mission43

Boise Bicycle Project and Mission43 have embarked on a partnership called Shifting Gears, to develop incarcerated veterans into highly skilled bicycle mechanics. The prisoners will have the opportunity to learn a trade while making a meaningful contribution to the community. All bicycles they repair are donated through BBP to low-income and refugee children. They learn a trade that, combined with a letter of recommendation we give at graduation, gives them a better chance at finding quality...

Idaho’s 2017 September 11th Moving Tribute

2017 marked the 16th anniversary of the the September 11, 2001 attack on our nation. For those who recently served, it is the closest we can come to understanding what Pearl Harbor meant to our grandparents. This year in an effort to honor those we lost, we carried a flag bearing the names of all the first responders and civilians who were killed on 9.11.2001, over 40 miles on a route across the Treasure Valley. This event was called Idaho’s 9.11 Moving Tribute. 0846 Flight 11 Hit the Nort...

PHOTO ALBUM: 2017 9.11 MOVING TRIBUTE (Treasure Valley)

Press Release: 2017 Moving Tribute and Old Glory BBQ

Click here for Mission43's Press Release covering the 2017 Moving Tribute and Old Glory BBQ. 

The September 2017 Update

The August schedule gave us a little breathing room leading up to a busy September! We still accomplished a lot over the past month including:  Hire Heroes USA hosted a one-day employment workshop with 20 veterans, transitioning military, and military spouses at the Deloitte offices in downtown Boise.  On August 9th, Hire Heroes USA hosted a career day which brought in close to 20 Idaho employers to conduct mock interviews for career-ready candidates. Each participant had the opportunity ...

Announcing the 43 Project- Telling the Mission43 Story

Over the coming months, Mission43 will be bringing to light a series of stories featuring Idaho veterans and spouses transitioning to ‘their next.’ Their ‘next’ may be a new career they didn't know was possible. Their ‘next’ may be a new community they feel proud to be part of. We will also see stories of employers and community members who have been impacted by those who have worked with Mission43. These are stories of leaders and lifelong learners. Military service, which includes the se...

Not What You Are Used To. The Hire Heroes USA Workshop and Career Day.

A lot of us have been required to attend transition programs run by the DoD (starts with a “T” and ends in “APS”). You may have been to a well-intentioned civilian employer event at your base. However, these experiences have always left us wondering if it was worth our time, and the answer is usually the same. Enter the Hire Heroes USA team. They are not what you are used to. They are a performance-based organization that empowers you (military, veterans, and military spouses) to transitio...

Team Rubicon Cleans Up After Flood Waters Recede

When a group of Idaho Team Rubicon members heard there were contaminated sandbags and debris along the Boise River that needed to be cleaned up, they got to work and helped Ada County Emergency Management restore the riverbank to normal as flood waters receded. Rivers swelled and stayed in flood state all across Idaho after a record 2017-2018 winter. While the sandbags helped defend local homes and apartments against the rising waters, when the river returned to normal levels massive amoun...

Upcoming in August

Another busy month and opportunities to get involved. Check out a few events and items of note coming up in August! Hire Heroes USA Employment Workshop on August 8th: If you have not previously registered and worked with an HHUSA Transition Specialist, get started and knock out everything you need to be employment ready in one day. Your next step will be to show up for your job interview for your next career. Hire Heroes USA Career Panel on August 9th: If you have previously registered wi...

July 2017 After Action Review

July was a solid month for the Mission43 team. We wanted to check in and give you an update on what was accomplished and what was happening behind the scenes. So first, central to Mission43’s purpose, are the four pillar organizations: UNIVERSITY OF DENVER NOW ADDED TO GUILD DEGREE PROGRAMS Education: Guild Education brought another school on board for Mission43. The University of Denver brings the total number of schools we are working with to five. This is important because we are findi...

Great Turnout and Big Win at the Twilight Criterium

On Saturday, July 15th the Mission43 team hosted a VIP tent at this year's Boise Twilight Criterium. This event is one of those you just have to see, and we loved the opportunity to host our M43 friends and families to be part of it. The Criterium is a day full of bike races through the streets of downtown with a fan expo area featuring local food and drink. We had over 150 guests, including families, supporters, and employers who are all involved making Idaho an incredible place to be afte...

PHOTO ALBUM: 2017 Twilight Criterium VIP Tent

Sword & Plough On Stage at 43INC

Emily Núñez Cavness and Betsy Núñez, entrepreneurs who excel at using their military experience as business owners, shared incredible lessons they learned on their journey to create Sword & Plough. In 2013, they took a concept and turned it into a reality. They truly live by their company motto, "Repurposed for a Purpose," by taking surplus military materials and turning them into stylish handbags and accessories.  The Mission43 team was honored to bring Emily and Betsy to Boise and enjoy a...

VIDEO: 43INC with Sword & Plough

PHOTO ALBUM: 43INC with Sword & Plough

World Class Athletes- Our Partnership With Team Twenty20

Mission43 truly appreciates the veterans and military spouses who work hard, are disciplined, and will never give up. That is why we are proud to partner with Idaho's all-women professional cycling team that shares our same values, Team Twenty20. Coming off of five gold medals in Rio, they now have their eye on the 2020 Tokyo Summer Olympics; and under the guidance of Kristin Armstrong, three-time gold medalist and Boise native, there is a good chance they'll find their way to the podiums. ...

Announcing the Caldwell Veterans Memorial Hall Mission43 Firebase

Over the past few months, we have been working closely with the Caldwell Veterans Memorial Hall (CVMH) to develop a way to integrate the Mission43 pillars (education, employment, purpose, and connection) into their future programmatic offerings. It has been incredible to see how the Canyon County community has rallied behind their efforts to renovate this turn of the century building, originally built as a Carnegie Library in 1903. But what role was the building going to serve, and was it s...

Investing in Volunteer Leaders- Team Red, White, & Blue's Eagle Leader Academy Came To Boise

Team Red, White, and Blue is growing incredibly fast across the country, and this isn't happening because people just want to meet up for a run. It is happening because this organization invests in their volunteer leaders and then empowers them to grow in their local communities. During the last weekend in April, we got to see firsthand what this looks like and we met absolute all-stars who embody the Eagle ethos and are on the front lines of enriching veterans lives. Twenty-four leaders f...

$15,000 Winner of the Idaho Entrepreneur Challenge

Brian Von Herbulis, Team Rubicon BLM Program Coordinator, just took home a $15,000 first place prize for his tech-focused idea at the 2017 Idaho Entrepreneur Challenge. Class I, V, and VI (food, ammo, and booze....well not really booze) is often hard to re-supply for those on the front lines. Brian knows this from experience as a commander of warriors in Afghanistan, and he used that knowledge and a lot of ingenuity to develop a one-time use drone that glides to predetermined coordinates wi...

Run As One 2017 Pictures

The Idaho Falls crew! The Treasure Valley crew! The Boise Team Red, White, and Blue chapter took the lead in bringing together Team Rubicon, The Mission Continues, and the community for Run As One in the Treasure Valley. Close to forty people, including including lots of families, came out for the near perfect weather in Kleiner Park in Meridian. We were also joined by Brandon Frank, the owner of Fleet Feet Meridian, who has been a great friend in the community and has included Team RWB i...

Trailhead Code School Scholarship: Foundations of Web Design

Mission43 has partnered with Trailhead Boise (a very cool entrepreneur workspace) to create more opportunities for you to succeed after the military. If you are wondering what coding is all about, this is the perfect way for you to get started on a structured path of stackable courses that can lead to a new career.  The Trailhead Front-End Foundation Series is a three-part series that will help you gain exposure to the tools and technologies that enable you to build interactive web pages a...

43INC Happy Hour with Team Rubicon

Task Force Locust (aka Mission43) came in to Payette Brewing Company, took up space, enjoyed some beers, and had a great time with other members and our community partners. This 43INC Happy Hour had a Team Rubicon slant with the Regional X Administrator, Aaron Mallary, flying in from his HQ in Seattle. He presented Sandra Rollings the very first Region X challenge coin for for her leadership in Operation Payette Forward (learn more about this first ever Idaho TR op here).  We also had a fe...

Clay Hunt Fellowship- Team Rubicon Now Accepting Applications

Each year, Team Rubicon selects a cohort of fellows for a 12-month leadership and training program within Team Rubicon. A recent graduate (and now the dude cruising the country running the TR Mobile Training Center, Jerome Deniz, came and briefed the Idaho Team Rubicon members on his experience.  Here it is in a snapshot: train to be deployable, deploy in different roles on TR operations, work with a mentor along this journey, complete a TR capstone project, all wrapped up in a year of self...

Mission43: A Year in Review

Mission43 didn’t even exist one year ago. Since then, we have grown to over 1500 members and are a building an organization that is having significant results for veterans and military spouses in Idaho. Here are some of the things we are proud to hang our hat on: Four of the best veteran service organizations in the country have united in Idaho to do what they do best. Hires Heroes USA has helped 115 members find their next career. These are quality jobs averaging $55,500 across 24 diffe...

Press Release: Year One Anniversary

Click here for the March 14, 2017 Press Release.

Higher Ground Sun Valley

Unit 317 Our friends at Higher Ground Sun Valley have just about perfected the use of Idaho’s beautiful outdoors for recreational therapy for military families, adaptive athletes, and special needs individuals. Recently, we had the chance to hang with Unit 317 on the slopes of Dollar and Baldy Mountain in Sun Valley, Idaho. Unit 317 consisted of 5 military couples, many of whom had never experienced the fun and challenge of winter sports. We witnessed an amazing chang...

43INC With Our Toughest Guest Ever

Brian Von Herbulis (L), Mission43 INC and Brian Stann (R), Hire Heroes USA First off, if you are reading this it is pretty much guaranteed our 43INC guest Brian Stann can beat you up. Why? Well he fought in the UFC. He played football at the United States Naval Academy (although he did lose to Army one of those years...Beat Navy!). He was a USMC infantry officer. He was awarded the Silver Star for his actions leading men through intense combat near Al Qaim, Iraq in 2005. Now, he is the CEO...

KTVB's Viewpoint Features Mission43

Bryan Madden (M43 Program Director) and Brian Stann (CEO of Hire Heroes USA) sat down with Doug Petcash, host of KTVB's Viewpoint. They talked about the what is happening nationally and at a local level for veterans and military spouses transitioning into civilian life. You can check out that segment here: VIEWPOINT. After the Brian and Bryan show, Sandra Rollings from Team Rubicon talked about what they have been up to, including the recent Operation Payette Forward. Behind the scenes on ...

PHOTO ALBUM: 43INC with Brian Stann, Hire Heroes USA

HHUSA's Biggest Idaho Workshop Yet

This was the third and largest Idaho workshop for Hire Heroes USA. Tony Torres, the Idaho Area Manager, hosted 26 veterans and spouses at the J.A. and Kathryn Albertson Family Foundation over two days. Day 1 included classes on interviewing, creating an elevator pitch, finalizing resumes, polishing up the LinkedIn profiles, and Dress for Success. Day 2 brought everything together when attendees did mock interviews one-on-one and in panel format. As usual, some of these interviews may have le...

Press Release: Our Partnership with Twenty20

Click here for the press release announcing our partnership with Sho-Air Twenty20 Cylcing, an all-women cycling team with a target on the Tokyo 2020 Olympics!

Support to the Idaho National Guard

Mission43 was honored to host the kick-off reception for The Adjutant General’s Leadership Day. (The “TAG” is the Major General, or two-star, in command of a state’s National Guard). We hung out in the Telaya Winery production area and were joined by Butch Whiting, CEO and co-founder of Kryptek Outdoor Group. Brian Von Herbulis, the 43INC man-in-charge, and Butch have both successfully commanded in combat and gave a great perspective on leadership. And the Telaya wine was as good as it gets...

Training the Academics

Colleges are all about the GI Bill $$$’s, but they often don’t even understand the value of having someone with military experience in their classroom. We worked with Boise State University and their Veteran Student Center faculty to bring out our good friend and partner in crime, Mike Schindler, to create a conversation around this very thing. Mike immediately demonstrated that most people immediately think of PTSD when talking about veterans. However, by the end this group was preaching ...

Operation Payette Forward

This operation represents the growing presence of TR in Idaho and their first ever Idaho based operation. More veterans are taking steps to find purpose after the military and actively serve their communities. In order to make this happen, the Rubicon City Coordinator Sandra Rollings (Army combat medic with two Iraq deployments), did a damage assessment and determined it would beneficial to the Payette Community for Region X (Team Rubicon uses the same regions as FEMA for organization) to ...

What's Coming in 2017!

1. More Results. Focus on the Pillars. Quality hires, more enrollments in school, more Team Rubicon members, and more Team Red, White, & Blue members.  2. Reach more military families. We have a lot more people to reach so they can connect to these four incredible organizations. A veteran might not need employment today, but if that changes six months from now we are always right there ready to support. 3. Tell Your Story. Our story is your story. We are made up of veterans, spouses, c...

A Partnership with the ESPN Famous Idaho Potato Bowl

Mission43 partnered with ESPN’s Famous Idaho Potato Bowl to provide over 2,000 tickets for military families to watch the University of Idaho take on Colorado State. We also hosted a tailgate for the first 500 people to show up for the festivities in our exclusive Mission43 tent that featured local brews, BBQ, and coffee from Cafe Mule (Idaho veteran owned business!). A few lucky military spouses even won access badges to the heated sky box! No game is complete without a flyover from somet...

PHOTO ALBUM: 2016 Potato Bowl VIP Tent

Team Rubicon Palantir Training

Damage assessment anyone? How does Team Rubicon decide on what areas to focus when they deploy on a natural disaster? One of the tools they use is Palantir. Palantir is a technology platform used for things like picking apart terrorist networks. Now it has been adapted for Team Rubicon to figure out where they can have the biggest impact in serving those who need it most. Good initial data collection on an operation is key! Now, a group of TR members in Idaho are qualified on this tool a...

Meaningful Impact By One Stone High School's Unite11

It is difficult to find a Veteran’s Day event that truly makes an impact on those it honors. In this case, a group of 10th grade students from One Stone school formed a group called Unite11 and reached out to Mission43 for assistance in developing their Veteran’s Day idea. They used the design thinking process, coupled with their reading of Sebastian Junger’s book Tribe, and developed a town-hall style event where veterans get up on an open mike and tell their story. We loved their approach ...