Meet The Team
Dave Hughes (Founder of MK9W)
On May of 2016 I took an idea to my local American Legion “Post 203” to raise money to get a service dog trained and then provide it to a local combat veteran free of charge. The vote was unanimous to take this task on. The first year we raised enough money for 3! At the time our communities were seeing an uptick of suicide among our local heroes. It was heartbreaking to see the devastation this caused the families and their communities. I am a veteran myself so I felt I needed to do something and not wait for somebody else to come up with a solution. You see, my wife lost her daddy to suicide when she was only 12 years old and I know the hell that put her and her siblings through. I wanted to do something that would really be effective and could literally change the course in a veteran’s life. I couldn’t stand the thought of a family going through what my wife’s family did. Mission K9 Warrior was conceived.
Dave Hughes
8.5 years in the United State Coast Guard
Neal Stephens ( Chairman of MK9W)
Oakwood graduate, served in the Military for 21 years before being medically retired. He is the recipient of Mission K9 Warrior number 17. As chairman his goal is to grow the program to be able to reach more Veterans and to keep Dave Hughes vision for MK9W moving forward
Jake Skillett (Master Trainer)
"Our master trainer, Jake Skillett, began training animals at 11 years old while volunteering at a wildlife sanctuary. As he got older he refined his trade and turned his focus to the dog world. He first certified a bloodhound for search and rescue when he was 20 years old. He later received his master trainer certification through an internship in Indiana which expanded his training to multiple disciplines. His experience has taken him across the globe. From training bomb dogs in Iraq for security, to protection dog training in Slovakia, and training civilian dogs for clients across the USA. In his free time Jake enjoys spending time with his family (Shelby and daughter Kaylee), hanging out with his animals, fishing, working on projects around the house."
Website: https://www.vonberndk9center.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/vonberndk9trainingbrownsburg/
Instagram: www.instagram.com/vonberndk9training