Ira Hearen
Podcast BroHost
Ira is a 20-year U.S. Air Force veteran who enlisted at 18 and served from 1997 to 2017, with assignments in Guam, North Carolina, South Korea, Illinois, and Germany. After retiring in 2017, he faced the same challenges many veterans encounter during the transition to civilian life; loss of identity, purpose, and tribe. Slipping fitness and finance standards. A mental health diagnosis that nearly imploded his life and life aspirations. Those experiences, and the lessons learned over eight years of navigating life after the uniform, helped develop the foundation for BravoMission Radio.
14
April 27, 2026
Episode #13: Every Day Is Day One: Ira Hearen on Sobriety, Identity, and Burning the Boats
Ira Hearen spent 20 years in the Air Force doing what needed to be done, loading cargo, running air drops, surviving deployments, and keeping the mission moving no matter what. He was good at all of it. But when retirement came in 2018, the mission stopped. And for the next eight years, so did he. In this episode, Ira gets real about what happened when the uniform came off, the loss of identity, the drinking problem that had quietly grown throughout his career, the dark patches where he questioned why he was even getting out of bed. He talks about bouncing between jobs that never fit, feeling like a stranger in a civilian world that didn’t speak his language, and the moment everything finally changed: the day he got fired and decided to burn the boats for good. Today Ira is 14 months sober, co-hosting Bravo Mission Radio, and living by a philosophy that carries this entire conversation: every day is day one. Not a setback. Not a reset. Just another shot to get it right. Jon and Ira al…
Guest: Ira Hearen