Military Mile

In December, Give an Hour delivered Military MILE training to 36 active duty Army soldiers over three sessions focused on building resilience, leadership, and peer-to-peer support skills.

This cohort was young, with an average age of 22, and many in the earliest stages of their military careers. That timing matters. It’s a window where habits around leadership, communication, and help-seeking are still forming, and where early intervention can shape long-term outcomes.

From the start, engagement was strong. Participants didn’t just attend, they interacted, reflected, and contributed. Conversations were active. Exercises sparked dialogue. And over time, the group began to shift from individuals in a room to a connected unit willing to support one another.

What Changed

Participants entered the training with relatively high baseline confidence, but what we saw wasn’t just improvement, it was refinement.

They left with a clearer, more grounded understanding of how to show up for others.

Key areas of growth included:

• Openness in discussing mental health increased by 16%
• Active listening improved by 13%
• Confidence in encouraging dialogue increased by 13%
• Recognition of signs of distress improved overall by 12%

Additional gains were seen in emotional regulation, stress tolerance, empathy, and boundary setting.

These are not abstract skills. These are the exact behaviors that determine whether someone notices a struggling peer, and what they do next.

The Moments That Mattered

Several experiences stood out across the training:

The “Check in on those around you” video prompted participants to reflect on how distress shows up differently in each person, opening the door for more honest conversations.

The introduction of the “Face the Five” signs gave participants a shared language for identifying emotional and behavioral changes in themselves and others.

And most importantly, the group began to support one another in real time, offering encouragement, sharing experiences, and creating space for vulnerability in a setting where that doesn’t always come easily.

One participant said it simply:

“It only takes one person to listen to what you have going on.”

What Participants Told Us

By the end of the training, soldiers described clear shifts in how they think and act:

“My views have changed, because I know how to properly have a conversation and care for my peers.”

“My thoughts have improved and the program gave me a different perception of identifying and tackling situations.”

These reflections point to something deeper than knowledge gain, they signal behavior change.

Who Was Reached

• 36 active duty soldiers
• Average age: 22
• 83% male, 17% female
• 54% with 1–3 years of service
• 28% with less than 1 year

The cohort was racially and culturally diverse, including strong representation from Hispanic/Latino and Black/African American service members, along with multilingual participants across English, Spanish, Portuguese, Haitian Creole, and Korean.

This diversity is critical. Peer support only works when it reflects the lived experiences of those in the room.

What We Learned (and How We’re Improving)

This training reinforced what works, and where we can go further:

• Large group sizes require additional facilitation support to maintain depth of engagement
• Participants want more scenario-based and video-driven learning
• Interactive discussions drive the strongest moments of connection and reflection

These insights are already shaping how we refine future Military MILE trainings.

Why This Matters

Military culture often places a high value on strength and self-reliance. But what we see in these rooms tells a different story, one where service members are ready to support one another, if they are given the tools and the space to do it.

This training builds that foundation.

It equips individuals to recognize distress earlier.
It strengthens peer-to-peer leadership.
It creates a culture where conversations around mental health can happen before crisis.

When donors support Military MILE, they are not just funding a training.

They are helping create environments where someone notices, someone listens, and someone responds.

And as we saw in that room, sometimes that’s all it takes to change the outcome.

• Designed_Survey_Results_Cohort18_December_2025.pdf (PDF)
  

Military MILE: Building Trust, Confidence, and Peer-to-Peer Leadership

In early November, Give an Hour’s Military MILE training brought together 20 early-career service members for three powerful days of in-person peer support education. Nearly all participants were in their first year of service, at a pivotal moment when leadership habits, stress responses, and help-seeking behaviors are still actively forming.

From the very first session, something important shifted. Instead of standing at the front of the room, facilitators Chris Garcia and Ana Mendes chose to sit alongside participants, breaking down power dynamics and creating space for authenticity. That simple choice changed everything. Soldiers spoke more freely, shared more deeply, and began engaging with one another not through rank or hierarchy, but through shared humanity.

Across the three days, attendance remained exceptionally strong (19 participants on Days 1 and 2, and 18 on Day 3). Engagement was high, and the training environment quickly became a place of openness, trust, and honest reflection.

What Changed

Participants entered the training at the very beginning of their peer-support journey. By the end, they showed measurable growth across nearly every skill area:

• Openness in discussing mental health increased by 18.46%

• Active listening improved by 8.07%

• Stress tolerance rose by 7.98%

• Encouraging dialogue through open-ended questions increased by 6.67%

• Emotional regulation and boundary-setting also showed meaningful gains

Most powerful of all:
Every single participant rated the training as transformational.

• Net Promoter Score (NPS): 100

• Net Empowerment Score (NES): 100

• Net Transformation Score (NTS): 100

There were zero detractors.

The Moment That Changed the Room

One of the most impactful experiences was the Brown Bag Activity, a reflective, anonymous exercise where participants wrote down a traumatic or life-altering experience, placed it into a bag, and then listened as another peer read it aloud without revealing the author.

As the cards were read, the room changed.

Participants offered condolences to peers without knowing who had written the card. They sat in silence together. They recognized grief, trauma, and fear in the words of someone sitting right beside them, sometimes someone they had never spoken to before. The exercise dismantled stigma in real time and replaced it with empathy.

One participant later shared:

“This program has given me the confidence to share with my peers and trust.”

 

What Participants Told Us

By the end of the training, soldiers described clear shifts in how they view both themselves and their peers:

• “I feel like I can open up more and let people know what’s going on.”

• “I learned that I need to check on my peers’ mental health more often.”

• “My views have changed and made me realize this is a topic that needs to be talked about.”

• “Never thought to talk about stuff like this in the military.”

• “Someone may be going through the same thing but hasn’t built the courage to speak on it yet.”

These aren’t just reflections, they are early signs of a culture shift.

Who Was Reached

• 20 total participants

• Ages 18–40 (average age: ~24)

• 95% in their first year of service

• 85% men, 15% women

• Racially diverse group representing Black or African American, White, Hispanic/Latino/a/x, and multiracial participants

• Multilingual community with English, Spanish, Tagalog, and Haitian Creole represented

This diversity matters. It reflects who today’s service members truly are and ensures peer support reaches across cultural, racial, and lived-experience differences.

What We Learned (and How We’re Improving)

This training didn’t just change participants, it strengthened the program itself. Key lessons now shaping future Military MILE sessions include:

• Sitting with participants daily increases trust and depth of conversation

• Small-group discussions lead to more vulnerability and honesty

• The Brown Bag Activity deserves expanded time and trauma-response framing

• Participants want more hands-on and physically engaging activities

• Understanding why warning signs appear, not just what they are, deepens peer impact

These insights are already being integrated into upcoming trainings.

Why This Matters to Donors

This training didn’t just deliver information, it reshaped how young service members relate to themselves and one another. It built confidence to speak up. It built courage to ask questions. It built capacity to notice when a peer is struggling, and to respond with care.

When donors invest in Military MILE, they are funding:

• Earlier detection of distress

• Stronger peer-to-peer leadership

• Reduced stigma around mental health

• And a culture where asking for help becomes a strength, not a risk

This is how prevention begins, before crisis ever strikes.

Links:

• Homepage
• Military & Veteran Support
• Peer Support Page

• Designed Survey Results (PDF)