OUTCOMES BRIEF  |  CREATE FAMILY INSTITUTE

 

The Family
Behind the Mission

What 160 Active Duty Families Encountered at Mettle and Moxie

 

How a Family Education Curriculum Reached Active Duty 3rd Special Forces Group Families Through a Structured Family Weekend Event in Virginia

160 Attendees	March 15, 2025 Event Date	69 Survey Responses
43% Response Rate	Single-Day Format	3rd SFG, VA Community

Event hosted by Special Forces Trust. Attendee information is not publicly promoted.

 

THE CHALLENGE

Military families carry a distinct operational weight. When a service member deploys, the household continues under a single parent, often for months, with limited outside support, frequent relocation, and sustained uncertainty. The family is not a passive element of military service. The family is the infrastructure that makes sustained service possible.

No institution formally prepares families for this. The education that once equipped people to run a household with direction, defined roles, and operational consistency was removed from American schools between 1962 and 1994. Home Economics, the formal curriculum covering household management, family roles, and parenting direction, was systematically dismantled and never replaced. The gap has remained open for more than sixty years.

Active duty families did not arrive at the challenges they face because of personal shortcoming. They arrived without foundational household education that no institution has provided. Mettle and Moxie addresses this gap for one of the most demanding family environments in the country.

 

THE APPROACH

On March 15, 2025, Create Family Institute founder Sunny Jensen delivered a structured family education session to 160 active duty 3rd Special Forces Group families attending Mettle and Moxie, a private family weekend hosted by Special Forces Trust in Virginia.

The adult session, How to Create Family with Purpose, Strategy and Intention, introduced three core strategies: Family Vision, Family Team, and Family Tools. Each strategy was paired with a guided workbook giving families a working document to begin applying each concept immediately. Family Vision covered goals, direction, and the family mission statement. Family Team addressed the executive role of the household leader, home organization, and building child contribution. Family Tools introduced a family code of conduct, morals and values, and parenting essentials.

Concurrent age-specific sessions engaged approximately 55 young participants in their own programming. Approximately 35 children ages 6 to 11 and approximately 20 teens ages 12 and older attended separate tracks.

The children's session focused primarily on communication and the necessity of acknowledging when a communication is directed at you. The concept was made physical using a basketball. Sunny addressed each child by name, bounced the ball to them, and the child responded with "I hear you" or "hello" before returning the ball. The exercise gave children a concrete, embodied experience of what acknowledgment means and why it matters in a family team.

Teens ages 12 and older participated in a session on social media and personal direction. The session did not focus on risks or dangers. Instead, it addressed the creative output potential of social media as a tool for establishing skills, building capability, and creating a foundation for future business. The session arose from a parent request during the adult program regarding social media and identity. Every teen in the room named something specific they would love to teach on social media. The discussion moved from passive consumption to forward and outward focus, expanding each participant's view of what they are capable of and what possibilities exist for them today. Teens were not formally surveyed. The single-session format did not allow for follow-up or longitudinal outcome tracking. A multi-session format would be required to document measurable results. What the session produced was a shift in point of view and full participation from every teen present.

The event was a single session. No prior enrollment, no multi-week curriculum, no follow-up appointments. The objective was to introduce foundational family education concepts and give each family a starting point they could carry home.

THE OUTCOMES

69 of 160 attendees completed the post-event survey, representing a 43 percent response rate. All five quantitative measures showed strong positive reception across the cohort.

Knowledge and Credibility

97.1 percent of respondents rated the presenter's knowledge of the subject matter as Excellent or Good. In a community defined by operational expertise and high standards for instruction, this reception reflects the depth and grounding of the curriculum.

Audience Engagement

88.4 percent of respondents rated the presenter's ability to keep them engaged as Excellent or Good. For a live session delivered to a mixed family audience without mandatory participation requirements, this level of sustained engagement reflects the relevance of the material to the community it served.

Delivery and Clarity

91.3 percent of respondents rated the delivery of material as Excellent or Good. The curriculum addresses a domain that most families have not formally studied. The instruction made it accessible.

 

“Sunny was wonderful and her execution of how to create a family culture was excellent. My husband and I really appreciated her speech and her time that she took to share her personal stories about her and her family.” Event participant, Mettle and Moxie 2025

 

Family Benefit

88.4 percent of respondents Strongly Agreed or Agreed that the session was beneficial to their family. For a population that operates in practical, mission-driven contexts, self-reported family benefit in immediate post-session feedback reflects genuine perceived value rather than aspirational sentiment.

Community Relevance

91.3 percent of respondents Strongly Agreed or Agreed that the topic was relevant to the Special Forces Community. This is the community's own assessment that family education belongs in their operational environment. It was not assumed. It was confirmed.

 

“Sunny was very well spoken and relatable. It gave me a moment to think long term.” Event participant, Mettle and Moxie 2025

 

THE WORKFORCE CONNECTION

The outcomes documented at Mettle and Moxie do not stay at the event.

A service member returning from deployment arrives at a household that has been operating under a single parent for an extended period. What that household looks like upon return, whether it is directed, stable, and functioning or depleted, reactive, and without a shared operating agreement, determines the conditions of reintegration. The family that knows where it is going and how it runs absorbs that transition differently.

The inverse is equally present. A spouse or partner managing the household during deployment without foundational direction carries the operational weight of two people. The cognitive load is high. The decision fatigue is real. The absence of a shared household agreement makes every transition harder, every conflict more costly, and every deployment more draining than it needs to be.

The Create Family System does not address the consequences of those conditions after they surface. It addresses the education that prevents them from accumulating. When the family has clear direction, defined roles, and consistent operating agreements, the reintegration is more stable. The deployment is more sustainable. The children are more resilient. The service member can direct full capacity toward the mission.

 

“Appreciate this program as it has done a lot for our family.” Event participant, Mettle and Moxie 2025

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

About Create Family Institute

Create Family Institute is an educational institution founded by Sunny Jensen. CFI's mission is to restore the formal family education removed from American schools, the instruction in household management, family roles, and parenting direction that was systematically eliminated between 1962 and 1994 and never replaced.

CFI delivers this education through a sequenced subscription curriculum, The Create Family System, available to individual families and deployed through employer wellness programs, community partnerships, and institutional channels. The curriculum teaches families to establish clear direction, define household roles and responsibilities, build child participation through structured accountability, and maintain the operating agreements that reduce daily friction and sustain family stability over time.