ZeroMils Challenges Practitioners to Meet the High Standards of ‘Military Thriving’

In late April, CAEL’s Military Community of Practice gathered for the second of five virtual convenings scheduled for 2025. Members heard several updates highlighting the growth of the community followed by an inspiring keynote presentation from retired Lt. Col. Kevin Schmiegel, the CEO of ZeroMils, a Service-Disabled Veteran-Owned Small Business (SDVOSB).

Readers may recognize Kevin Schmiegel’s name from his previous work with the highly respected Hiring Our Heroes. Schmiegel completed deployments to more than 50 countries during his 20 years of service. After the Marine Corps, Schmiegel helped found Hiring Our Heroes and grew it to the largest veteran and military spouse employment nonprofit in the country. Between 2011 and 2021, he raised more than $100 million for the three nonprofits he led, impacting more than 4 million military and veteran-connected Americans over that decade.

The son and father of U.S. Marines, Schmiegel offered an intimate and informed perspective when warning about the limitations of a deficit framing approach to engaging veterans and their families. He shared that during his service, he spent a thousand nights away from his family, which had to move six times in 11 years. While he acknowledged the toll that took, he emphasized the strength and resilience military-connected individuals build in facing such challenges.

This outlook frames the reason he founded ZeroMils. Its mission is to create Military Thriving cultures and communities. Or, as he explained during the convening, to go beyond a merely “military friendly” mindset. Doing so, he argued, isn’t just the right thing to do - it’s a necessity.

For Schmiegel and ZeroMils, the phrase “military friendly” is outdated and fails to acknowledge a different landscape, where veterans are a valued talent pool resource in a workforce that is facing historically high skills gaps. “It's time to go beyond the ordinary or 'military friendly' and create cultures that are truly extraordinary, or 'Military Thriving,' to win the war for talent and keep it for the long haul," he said.

This perspective resonates widely among those who support the military-connected population. It underscores that the phrase "military friendly" can be seen as outdated, implying a favor rather than recognizing mutual value. Both educators and employers should be moving beyond mere "friendliness" and actively demonstrate the inherent value veterans and military-connected individuals bring to campuses and workplaces. 

To help organizations, higher ed institutions, and employers meet the high standard of Military Thriving, ZeroMils stresses:

• Increasing the talent/learner/client pipeline.
• Building public, private, and nonprofit sector partnerships.
• Developing and utilizing a strong storytelling strategy.
• Identifying and breaking down barriers to partner with employers. 

Schmiegel concluded by explaining that the Military Thriving concept is applicable not just at the organizational level. With the proper collaboration, regions and states can adopt it to deliver systemic impact on entire workforce ecosystems by marshalling military-connected populations to address critical skills gaps. This broader application is particularly intriguing to CAEL as it pursues support of regional workforce ecosystems.  

The next virtual convening of CAEL’s Military Community of Practice is planned for July. The details will be posted at CAEL’s Member Hub, where complete recordings of past virtual convenings are also available. Any CAEL member is eligible to join the Military Community of Practice and can sign up to do so at cael.org.