I knew Mike V before there was a job.

This relationship started with a GORUCK Challenge, not a job description.

This email was sent

September 25, 2026 11:54am EDT

Is this your brand on Milled? Claim it.

Matte tone:

View in Your Browser

I met Mike V 15 years ago in a parking lot in Las Vegas. I didn’t really know who he was, and I didn’t really care. His GR1 was stuffed with bricks like everyone else’s and I knew he was coming back from some kind of injury, but weren’t we all — those of us lucky enough to still be alive, anyway.

We did not hit it off immediately. We were at a nice park with a nice pond and a nice trail around it. It was very civilized, probably too nice for guys like us. Our first three hours were full of bear crawls and crab walks and so many animals you’d swear we were at the zoo. There was a lot of shock and a lot of disbelief, but at least we were in it together, on our terms. Civilized families were having picnic dinners and laughing with joy as the sun was finally going down and Mike V and his class were probably the first humans to join the ducks and all their duck shit in that nice pond. Some kids gathered around to watch and they laughed and pointed and asked perfectly sane questions of the insane, such as why are you doing this?

I just smiled back, and the class erupted in laughter, and for the next fourteen hours we had the universe to ourselves. Mike V and I got to have an honest look at each other, and 15 years later very little has changed. Cold beers taste better in Normandy after a 50 Miler, and we’ve still got rucks on our backs, chasing sunrises together all over the world.

To welcome Mike V to GORUCK as our Chief Brand Officer is like welcoming him home. The “brand” of GORUCK is a pretty simple thing. We want to be where the human spirit burns brightest, and keep doing that for all the days of our lives, and we hope you’ll join us.

— jason

Cofounder, GORUCK

10th Special Forces Group