Philanthropy Today
Philanthropy Today
Ft. Riley Central Kansas Chapt. of AUSA on ther GMCF Community Hour Show Episode - 219
Rich Jankovich, Chapter President of the Fort Riley-Central Kansas AUSA chapter, explains the organization's mission to serve America's Army, veterans, National Guard, Reserves, and their families through education, professional development, and advocacy.
• AUSA's Fort Riley-Central Kansas chapter covers from east of Topeka to the western Kansas border, making it one of the largest chapters geographically
• The organization works alongside the Military Relations Committee and Military Affairs Committee to connect military and civilian communities
• AUSA has collaborated with General Perry Wiggins to implement reciprocal licensing laws for military spouses in professions like nursing and teaching
• Membership is open to everyone, not just those with military backgrounds
• The Army is celebrating its 250th birthday while AUSA marks its 75th anniversary with special half-price membership options
• Gary Sinise recently performed at Fort Riley with the Lieutenant Dan Band and spoke about the importance of simply "showing up" for military members
• Jankovich, though not a veteran himself, is driven by understanding the unique challenges military families face compared to civilian families
To learn more about AUSA or become a member, visit ausa.org, contact Rich Jankovich at rbjankovich@gmail.com, or reach out through the Manhattan or Junction City chambers.
Philanthropy Today is brought to you by the Greater Manhattan Community Foundation. In this episode we feature a recently broadcast segment of the GMCF Community Hour as heard on NewsRadio KMAN. And we are back. Next segment on the GMCF Community Hour is all about the Central Kansas Chapter of AUSA and there's a lot of work. I guess it's Fort Riley-Central Kansas chapter. The chapter president is Rich Jankovich. Good to have you in the studio, my friend.
Speaker 2:Thanks for letting me be here.
Speaker 1:Appreciate it. It's easy. All you have to do is say hey, I'd like to be on the radio.
Speaker 2:You just need a body to fill the spot. I got it Okay. You know there are some days where that's not as easy as you think, yeah, yeah.
Speaker 1:Well, let's just talk a bit about what AUSA is and familiarize our listeners with the project Sure.
Speaker 2:So first you know I have to thank Purple Wave for allowing me to do some of the work that I do as a volunteer, like what I do with AUSA. I serve as a chapter president for the Fort Riley, central Kansas, which is kind of a misnomer. Our chapter actually spans from east of Topeka all the way to the western border of the state. We're one of the biggest chapters in terms of actual reach in the entire AUSA United States part and there's some other chapters that you know, like in Minneapolis. They have the whole state but they focus very heavily on Minneapolis and we cover the whole thing. I also am the state president. Oddly enough, our Kansas City chapter and Leavenworth chapter voted me as state president because we have we're one of the few states that have multiple chapters and then we absorbed the Topeka chapter a year ago.
Speaker 2:So Associated United States Army we're a nonprofit education and professional development association that we serve America's Army, our veterans, the National Guard Reserves and their families, and it's very important work. And then we also advocate for those same people to try and help get the needs changed, some of the things that have happened in Kansas. We've worked very closely with Perry Wiggins to get some changes like the reciprocal law for licensing for nurses and teachers et cetera, so that we can attract the trailing spouses, whether they be male or female, but the spouses having good opportunities to come to Kansas and work and not have to stay behind at their previous duty station and a soldier being here alone, so that helps bring the families along with it. We have great schools et cetera. So we try to promote all those things at the same time.
Speaker 1:For our listeners' benefit. When you mentioned Perry Wiggins, he's a retired three-star from Fort Riley but also is serving as chair as the Governor's Military Council.
Speaker 2:That's correct, and he's a former Danger Six, which would be the commanding general of the 1st Infantry Division. So he's a phenomenal resource person and advocate for not just the Army, even though that was his branch. He does a great job of serving Kansas and all that Kansas has to offer for the military and because he has to also represent, obviously, the Air Force, but he's also representing veterans. We have veterans from all services in the state of Kansas.
Speaker 1:And one of the things that I think you know when you talk about Perry Wiggins, you know he could have retired anywhere, yes, but he chose to retire here, and that is something that happens rather frequently.
Speaker 2:More now than it was? Yeah, exactly.
Speaker 1:And we're seeing a lot of these individuals that served in a high ranking capacity, that retired here and you know I think of Phil Maddox is one, and there's a bunch that have.
Speaker 2:Mike Dodson being another one.
Speaker 1:John Seitz, you know you think about all the people that have tremendous legacy in serving at Fort Riley, that have chosen to stay here, and that also explains a little bit about what that need is for the AUSA, correct?
Speaker 2:So you know, we're very fortunate as a chapter and really as a state, but really as our chapter, because we have two phenomenal partners in the Military Relations Committee with the Manhattan Area Chamber of Commerce and the Military Affairs Committee at the Junction City Chamber of Commerce, and we have two great people, christian Bishop and Rob Wilson, who we work very, very closely with and we try to be in the middle and yoke everything together that we can and then we fill the voids where the MRC and the MAC may not be able to accomplish a specific mission, and then we can step in and do that. But because we have greater resources for specific things that we're trying to work on today and one of which is coming up on Tuesday next week with our joint MRC MAC luncheon that AUSA is also a sponsor of, we're bringing in General Hamm, who is also a former Danger Six and he essentially retired in the area. He's in Stockton, missouri, which I was surprised when I started corresponding with him, but he's relatively close and has a tremendous affection for Fort Riley and the central Flint Hills. So those are things that we can do that are a little bit different because we can bring people in. Sometimes we have to fund, and we do fund specific things that we can as well, as we can bring people in from our national speakers bureau that AUSA pays for, and so we're trying to work on some things with young professionals and others. But a big event coming up is the joint luncheon next Tuesday and you can go. Junction City has the website up there. They're technically the conduit for all the registrations for this. The two groups divide and conquer on what missions they have to get this lunch together. Divide and conquer on what missions they have to get this lunch together. We're bringing in the speaker and then also, oddly enough, usaa, not to be confused with AUSA. Usaa is also a sponsor with us to bring General Hamm in, as is Purple Wave.
Speaker 2:So we work very hard to connect all the dots, because one of the missions is to connect and we try to connect leaders, businesses, the communities to the soldiers to make it less intimidating for them to be around each other. Because I always get asked how do you integrate into Fort Riley? I said you just get to know your neighbors and you know it used to be when I was growing up and when Mitzi would have been growing up here and probably you as well, dave and Abilene, soldiers weren't allowed off post in uniform, and that's changed a lot. But you don't know that your neighbor is necessarily military unless you happen to see them in uniform. And so you see them in the grocery store, you see their families and they're in our schools.
Speaker 2:And we do as much as we can to connect the communities together, to bring them together to celebrate what it is.
Speaker 2:And another example would have been Friday night this past week Lieutenant Dan Band played for the fifth time at Fort Riley. It was a great concert. There were some community members there organization, the flint hills bourbon club that that brought all brought a lot more people in than the normal from the communities but were able to celebrate and be around the soldiers and their families. And then we also celebrated the 250 birthday of the army in kansas city on saturday night. Our chapter was one of the sponsors and as state president I'm representing a bunch all of them and gary Sinise, oddly enough, was the keynote speaker and I had a chance to meet him and I will tell you he is one very humble individual and sincere and it was amazing to see him perform on Friday night and then actually get a chance to meet him on Saturday night at the event, and Kansas City does a great job with their chapter of doing an event like that and we will celebrate the 250th birthday next Tuesday.
Speaker 1:Okay, let's talk a bit about membership of AUSA. Yeah, and I think one of the things that's rather unique, you know, and because you and I know each other quite well, we've been friends for a long time. You are not a veteran.
Speaker 2:I am not. I am a very unique individual within the AUSA structure. I am a civilian. I have never served. I've been accused of serving I shouldn't say accused but people, people confuse, confuse. You know my passion with those that have served.
Speaker 2:And I grew up in Manhattan and it's and I was in the era where the draft stopped. We still had the registration. We still had a lottery for my, my high school class we were the last to have a lottery. So I had a 10-year gap where, you know, if the draft came, I was drafted and it wouldn't matter what I decided to do. I was going to be drafted because my number was low enough and my registration was good enough that I would serve, and so this is a good way for me to give back to soldiers. And so this is a good way for me to give back to soldiers and knowing what they go through and as close as I've become to many of them, the life of a soldier's family is very different than a civilian family. You can talk about, you know corporate moves and all that, but typically in a corporate environment, the spouse is not gone for a year or nine months and they're not being shot at, not being threatened and so you know, when you're around a division like the 1ID, you get to know those people really well and the things that they go through. And when the spouses aren't there, there's a support need and that's one of the things that I try very, very hard with Caroline, my wife, to try and give back in a way that is meaningful.
Speaker 2:I know Saturday night Gary Sinise talked about the first time that he volunteered with USO and his third trip was to a hospital in Germany during the Iraqi freedom and he was the first part of it was with soldiers that were wounded, that were going to go back into combat and he said I didn't know what I was going to do or I was going to say, so I felt very humbled and he said all of a sudden somebody yells Lieutenant Dan, and the whole, the whole room lights up. He said then I had to go to the, to the floor where the soldiers were that weren't going back, that were going to be sent home, that may or may not recover, and I'm sitting with family members. And he said I learned that showing up actually means something. And my wife and I talked about that on the way back from Kansas City yesterday and I said I feel that but it never feels like enough. And so I, you know, as our chapter, our board, our state, you know I'm driven because I don't believe we do enough.
Speaker 2:And everybody has a passion and we try to match those passions with our mission and get people excited about doing it. And so, membership-wise, anybody can be a member of AUSA and there's some great benefits to be a member and you can go to the AUSA website, ausaorg, and it'll tell you all about it. You can be a free member, which is new over the last couple of years. You can be a two-year member or you can be a life member, which means you pay one fee for the whole time and right now, with the Army 250, we are half pricing everything. So it's a great time to join. If anybody's interested is listening, join. You want to choose the chapter 5301 if you're asked, but we also match up based off of zip code. The other side of that is, by being a member, you add to the force.
Speaker 2:We're roughly 2 million members strong. We're one of the largest military service organizations in the country, which means we have a strong voice with Congress, because when we show up, we listen and part of our education. When we go to National, which is kind of a big event in October, there'll be 50,000 to 60,000 people in DC swarming on the complex. Dave and I have been there together. It's a spectacle that is incredible and it truly celebrates the Army, but also, you know, being 250 years old as an Army. Ausa is now 75 years old, which is a great milestone as well, and we're celebrating that along with the Army 250 birthday.
Speaker 1:How can people find out more and get involved?
Speaker 2:So you can do one of two things. You can reach out to actually a few things. You can reach out to myself. You can reach out to actually one of a few things. You can reach out to myself. You can reach out to Christian. You can reach out to Rob through the MAC, the MRC or me directly at rbjankovich at gmailcom, or you can go to the ausaorg website and it'll tell you all about AUSA. Our chapter is we're going to meet in about a month for a retreat. I go through our battle plan for 2026 because our fiscal year ends June 30. We'll have some fundraising opportunities that we'll be coming up with. We're going to do some reorganization of our website or social media and you'll see a lot of activity, hopefully a lot more activity with what we've got going on.
Speaker 1:Sounds good. Rich Jankovich, our guest. Obviously, many of you possibly remember, rich used to be a city commissioner and has been very involved in the community, and the Jankovich name has a lot of legacy in this community and we appreciate all the work you do here in the community and also for USA. Thank you, appreciate it. We'll be back in just a couple of moments to wrap up the show. Mitzi, are you going to talk this time? Mitzi, are you going to join us or are you just going to sit here and watch?
Speaker 2:I'll probably just watch.
Speaker 1:Just sit here and watch. We'll talk about some things that are happening in the community and also give you a preview of next week's show. This is the GMCF Community Hour. We do this every Monday morning in the 10 o'clock time frame here on NewsRadio KMAN. No-transcript.