September 23, 2025 • 19 mins
Rich Jankovich, president of the Association of the United States Army (AUSA) Fort Riley-Central Kansas Chapter, discusses the organization's mission and Fort Riley's significant economic impact on the Manhattan area. Despite being less visible than Kansas State University, Fort Riley contributes approximately $4 billion annually to the local economy, representing about 47% of the region's total economic benefit compared to K-State's 23-25%.
• AUSA serves as "the voice of the Army," supporting active duty, Reserve, National Guard, veterans, and military families
• The Fort Riley-Central Kansas Chapter benefits from unique partnerships with both the Manhattan and Junction City Chambers of Commerce
• AUSA membership is open to everyone regardless of military service background
• Fort Riley houses approximately 40,000-45,000 people, with many military families choosing to stay in the community during deployments
• Black Tie Tactical, AUSA's signature program, provides formal wear, transition clothing, and professional development seminars for military spouses
• Upcoming Chipotle fundraiser on October 8th from 5-9 PM will donate 25% of proceeds when customers mention AUSA
• The AUSA National Convention happens October 11-13 in Washington, DC
• Membership options include free two-year memberships or paid memberships currently at half-price for the Army's 250th birthday
For those interested in getting involved, email prezfortriley@ausa.org or visit ausa.org to join.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:00):
Philanthropy Today is brought to you by the Greater
Manhattan Community Foundation.
In this episode we feature arecently broadcast segment of
the GMCF Community Hour, asheard on NewsRadio KMAN.
Ready to go?
Is that our turn?
It is because you know, whenRich Jankovich steps into the
(00:20):
studio, I get distracted becausewe're longtime buddies and we
just we talk.
Okay, so let's get serious hereon the GMCF Community Hour
about what you and I are here totalk about today.
Speaker 2 (00:34):
Okay, let's get serious.
Congratulations on your wedding, thank you.
It was beautiful and I got totell you because Caroline and I
obviously were there, but wewent early to make sure we knew
where to park.
In my lifetime I had never beenat the gardens ever.
Speaker 1 (00:50):
What.
Speaker 2 (00:50):
Really Never.
Speaker 1 (00:52):
That is a community treasure.
Speaker 2 (00:54):
No kidding.
And we're walking around and mywife is a total plant person
and boom, and I'm like how didwe never come here?
It just wasn't on our thing.
Speaker 1 (01:05):
Okay, so now that you know this, we're going to get
you involved in a couple ofthings.
Speaker 2 (01:10):
Oh God, All you have to do is attend when they have
some events.
Speaker 1 (01:16):
That's all you need to do I mean?
There's organizations.
They've got a friends group,they've got all kinds of things,
but they've done a tremendousamount of work there over the
last couple of years.
Speaker 2 (01:26):
I remember when the barn was burning, when it was
still a hay barn.
Speaker 1 (01:28):
Yeah, and I don't go that far back but yeah, so
that's.
Speaker 2 (01:31):
but that's not what we're here, but it is
congratulations and it wasawesome.
And I got to meet your brideand since you hit her from me
for all those years.
Speaker 1 (01:39):
Yeah, Well, you know how many, how many of those
months were you in the hospital?
Speaker 2 (01:44):
Oh, just three, Just three.
You know that was a whole yearago.
Speaker 1 (01:48):
I'm going to have you pull that mic up a little bit
closer too, if you don't mind.
Yeah, there.
But yeah, we've had a lot goingon.
It's been a whirlwind for usand you know, there was a lot of
people, a lot of very goodfriends that met her for the
first time, and a lot of friendsand family that met me for the
(02:12):
first time too, so you know itwas more joyous for people to
meet her than it was for them tomeet me, but that's okay.
Okay, so let's roll to AUSA.
Speaker 2 (02:19):
AUSA is why we are here.
What's AUSA?
So, AUSA is the voice of thearmy, otherwise known as the
Association of the United StatesArmy, and it's not to be
confused with USAA, althoughthey are a national sponsor of
USA.
But we're an organization thatsupports the active duty Army,
Army Reserve, National Guard,veterans, spouses, et cetera,
(02:41):
across the planet.
Basically, we have chapters allover the world.
We just happen to be in regionfive and we're one of the oldest
chapters in the organization.
Speaker 1 (02:53):
And what is the local chapter like?
Speaker 2 (02:57):
So the local chapter, it's a bunch of volunteers that
have a passion for supportingour military and Fort Riley and
we are the one ID at the sametime, because they all they
today, they all go together.
That hopefully that doesn'tchange in the in the future, but
it's always something that wehave to be concerned with and
(03:18):
we've seen that happen in thenineties when the, the division,
reforgered to Germany for anumber of years and came back in
2005-6, which we spent a lot oftime working on together as we
were elected officials a littlebit later.
But it's you know, what we do iswe try and find ways to support
remiss, to say that we areunique in that we have two
(03:49):
tremendous partners in theManhattan area chamber, in the
Junction City area chamber ofcommerce, with the MRC soon to
be relabeled and to make alittle more robust, and the MAC
in Junction City.
So we have a lot of heavylifting that we can do with some
tremendous support, which isvery unique within the chapters
Because, as I talk to our otherchapter presidents, especially
(04:10):
in our region, but across theboard, their chapters don't have
the support of the Chambers ofCommerce that we do here.
Kansas City and Leavenworth arevery different than we are and
they are within my realm as I'mthe state president also plus
chapter president.
So it's kind of unique that Iget to serve kind of in two
roles.
Speaker 1 (04:30):
I think one of the things that always surprised me
about you you never served,Never.
But you have had a lifetimeinterest in the military and
that goes beyond the Army.
Yes, Because you have afascination for planes and you
(04:51):
know, and Air Force and such.
Speaker 2 (04:52):
Yeah, my grandfather and great uncle, who were
partners that founded theairport that's now the Gary
Chicago Regional Airport, wereboth Army Air Corps.
My grandfather flew AirTransport Command, flew the hump
into China, did a lot of otherthings.
My great uncle was a trainerpilot and a blanking on the
(05:16):
airbase that was by Waco, butthen he was transitioning to
P-38s to go to the South Pacificwhen Japan surrendered.
So it goes that far back.
My uncle, my dad's olderbrother, was a SAC wing
commander flying B-52s so I goback to you know that and
getting to be on an airbase andhim flying Operation Chrome Dome
(05:38):
, which most people don'tremember but we do from our days
as grade school students whenyou did civil defense drills.
You know, get under the deskwhen the atomic bomb is going to
go off.
Speaker 1 (05:49):
Put your hands behind your head, like that was going
to save us.
You know, no kidding.
Speaker 2 (05:53):
But he, you know, we had B-52s in the air 24-7 over
the Arctic Circle ready to goloaded with nuclear weapons.
So you know we've lived througha lot of those things loaded
with nuclear weapons.
So you know, we've livedthrough a lot of those things.
And and then through all that,and then my father's car
(06:13):
dealership was Key IncorporatedKey Pontiac first and Key
Incorporated.
You know, we did a lot of withthe, with the soldiers always
tried to do the right thing bythem, and so you know it's it's
one of those things where youappreciate what they have to go
through.
And then, obviously, when weboth got elected, we became very
popular with invitations andthings on post and I became very
(06:34):
close friends with peoplethrough that, and that's a way
to serve, because my graduatingclass was the last one required
to register and had a lotterybut no draft, and so you know we
had a choice.
You know we could serve or not.
I obviously chose not to.
I always wanted to be a pilotand my eyesight said no, and so
(06:56):
this is a way for me to giveback to those that serve and put
their life on the line on adaily basis.
Speaker 1 (07:01):
I think one thing that's neat about AUSA is that
you don't have to be someone whohas had a military background,
to help be a part of thatcommitment to those families,
those men and women that serveand their families, and that you
realize also the value thatthey bring to our community, not
(07:23):
just, you know, with thesewonderful people that are
serving our country Right, butyou know there is a more than
sizable economic impact that wehave here, mostly locally from
Fort Riley.
But you know and you lookacross, you know from the state
perspective, other communitieshave that as well.
And so this is a great way forindividuals who want to support
(07:45):
Our men and women and theirfamilies.
Speaker 2 (07:47):
Yeah, and what people don't realize, especially here
in Manhattan, and this is justthe reality of it.
We see the university as thedriver of a lot of our driver.
In reality, what the One ID andFort Riley bring is about 47%
of our total economic benefitcomes from them.
(08:11):
Give or take, 23% to 25% comesfrom the university.
It's hard to believe but it'sbecause you see people in purple
all the time.
You don't recognize the peoplein what is brought into the
economic impact from Fort Riley.
You have a city of itselfsitting there that is about
(08:32):
somewhere between 40 to 45,000people.
That also have additional folksthat live in our communities.
And I mean I go back to when Iwas growing up here during
Vietnam, and they were notallowed off post in uniform, and
now they can, and so you seethem a little more regularly.
But but now it's becomecommonplace and so you you have
(08:54):
a different perspective of whatthat means.
But during COVID, um, when thestudents somewhat disappeared
from from our community and FortRiley had to say you can't go
to certain places, the impactwas felt significantly.
Never thought about that, andthat was the first time that a
lot of our merchants you can'tgo to certain places the impact
was felt significantly.
Never thought about that andthat was the first time that a
(09:17):
lot of our merchants andbusinesses realized that.
What an impact they had because, oh, we'll be fine without the
students here.
Well, suddenly, no, it was very, very different.
And so, as we look forward, wetry to connect all the dots for
people to make understanding andbe as open as we can with what
the, what we know that'shappening at Fort Riley, so that
there's going to be preparationfor it.
(09:39):
You know, next year is going tobe interesting because there's
going to be a lot of deployment.
Good news not nine months ornot a year or so in combat, but
nine months at a time and lotsof.
We have the first brigade outright now.
They'll come back.
The division headquarters andDaVarti will go out, sustainment
will go out, the cab will goout or combat aviation brigade
(10:01):
and the second brigade will goout all next year at different
times and there'll be comingback at different times.
So the cycle will be different.
But the difference now from whenwe were in heavy combat during
the War on Terror is that thefamilies tend to stay because
the kids are in school.
There's not a threat ofobviously the worst possible,
(10:23):
that kind of flows, with thedivision's motto and the no
sacrifice too great.
We all know what that means,and so the families are staying
here.
Our employment base is betterthan it was, you know, even 20
years ago when the division wascoming back, so there's reasons
for them to stay.
We've integrated the families alot more closely than we did
(10:44):
before because they're here,they're where they like being
here and there's a lot for themto do.
Speaker 1 (10:50):
You know what is it the number?
I think that they say theeconomic impact that Fort Riley
makes here locally is in what $2billion $4 billion.
Speaker 2 (10:57):
$4 billion, $4 billion.
Yeah, wow, yeah, hard toimagine, yeah, yeah.
That's huge, but again, wefocus on Purple.
Every Saturday at Bill Snyderfamily stadium, 60,000 people,
or whatever the stadium holds.
Well, that that's a one day ora couple of days and this is
every day.
(11:17):
This is the people that havejobs at Fort Riley, that have
the companies that support themission of Fort Riley, that do
all the things that they do,that have people living in our
communities.
All of that Plus, they shop offpost.
They aren't just going to thecommissary, the PX, they are
coming in to our grocery stores,to our department stores, to
(11:39):
our local businesses to gettheir cars fixed, to get their
hair cut, to get their hair donefor those that go to a salon
versus a barber.
All those things add up andthat's what people don't realize
, because when they come inthey're probably not in uniform,
they're probably in civilianclothes, and so you don't
realize what they do.
And it's all important.
Speaker 1 (12:01):
Let's talk a bit about a fundraiser.
You have coming up working withChipotle.
Speaker 2 (12:06):
So part of what we need to do because we are a
nonprofit to support some of themissions is find ways to raise
money, and we are doing ourfirst fundraiser since I've been
president and I think reallysince Art DeGroat was the
president they did the yellowribbon thing during the War on
Terror we're having a fundraiserat Chipotle on October 8th,
from 5 to 9.
Chipotle on October 8th, from 5to 9.
(12:27):
When you go in to get your meal, just mention that you're part
of AUSA and they will donate 25%of the proceeds of that evening
and we're hoping for a bigturnout.
Speaker 1 (12:38):
We have put the word out as much as we can and this
is one of the venues we get todo that with and the date on
that again.
Speaker 2 (12:45):
October 8th.
Then Chipotle is in Aggieville.
The good news is theconstruction isn't where they
are, it's behind it.
So it's pretty easy to get toand from and they have their own
parking lot.
And they do have their ownparking lot.
But you can order online andwhen you go to pick up you just
make sure that they know whatit's about.
Speaker 1 (13:05):
One of the things you and I got to venture out on as
we went to DC a couple of times.
We were both in electedcapacities to go to the AUSA
National Convention, Correct?
What a wonderful opportunity.
Speaker 2 (13:18):
Yeah, that's coming up.
I will head out on October 10ththat will be it's always over
the well what we would callColumbus Day and whatever the
day is.
Now that I'm not sure that it'sstill a day, but it's
considered Indigenous People'sDay.
Thank you, I didn't want to gothe wrong direction there, but
it's really a three-day eventthat technically starts on
(13:41):
Sunday, the 11th, and they havethe Army 10-Miler and we have a
HUA tent that the McCormickFoundation is sponsoring for us,
and then 1ID is bringing in alot of assets to promote that.
And then we have the openingceremony, which is one of those
things that just tears at yourheart.
(14:03):
It's an amazing ceremony.
On Monday and then right afterthat we have our chapter social.
We have uh the commandinggeneral speaking at, and then
also a former um uh, one of, Ithink, second brigade CSM who is
now 54th artillery CSM, rickyJackson, who's going to
transition to uh the spacecommand, coming up in March, and
(14:28):
then as speakers, and then onTuesday we go on the Hill.
We do it differently than whenyou and I were there.
We meet with all of the thecongressional delegation
staffers in one shot instead ofgoing office to office to office
, which makes it a lot moreconducive for us to be able to
do that and not where everybodyelse.
(14:48):
Yeah, a lot.
And then that evening, onTuesday evening, is the chapter
social, where we invite all the1ID alumni to come and socialize
with us, and then some friendsof the 1ID as well.
And then Wednesday morning isour region breakfast, that the
Region 5, which is the regionthat we're in, has a breakfast.
The SMA and the Army Weimerwill be our keynote speaker
(15:12):
there.
So it's a really, really funand busy and important time for
us to be on the Hill because weget to speak directly to,
especially for us, and then weget a briefing from Baker
Donaldson, who's our lobbyist onMonday afternoon after the
chapter lunch and we get a much,much deeper dive into what's
(15:34):
going on for all military,because even though we are Army,
we do represent the state invarious capacities, and so it's
Army first and then we do allthe other services as well, and
because the veteran side of itis what we have to be.
And you can be a member of AUSAwhether you served or not,
(15:54):
whether you were Navy, marine,coast Guard, air Force or Army,
so it's, you know we'reinclusive that way, or civilian,
or so that's right If youdidn't serve and were a full
civilian yeah.
Speaker 1 (16:05):
Yeah, I just reinforced that, that's all.
Speaker 2 (16:07):
I just put it in one word.
That's okay, you can do that.
Speaker 1 (16:10):
Exactly, yeah, we got just a couple of minutes left
here.
Other efforts that the LocalAUSA chapter is involved in.
Speaker 2 (16:18):
Yeah, so you know, we have what I call our signature
sponsorship, which is Black TieTactical.
It's a fully, fully donated,volunteer run organization.
On Fort Riley.
We just moved from the originallocation on the hill down to
the historic portion of the post.
We're in the process ofremodeling the area that we were
(16:42):
able to occupy, but it's allabout formal wear, transition
clothing, clothing, somemilitary wear, as well as some
seminars on interviewing, ballbehavior, ball etiquette for the
military spouses, excuse meespecially and that will.
(17:04):
We've started the renovationperiod.
Tony Pablo, who's on my board,and I went out yesterday and
moved a lot of the furniturethat had to remain into a secure
area and now they're able tocome in, as the other team will
come in and begin the cleaning,the painting, setting it all up,
and hopefully I'm guessingwe'll be up and fully
(17:25):
operational probably by I'mguessing middle of October,
maybe just a little bit later,but that's soon to come.
We also support all the JROTCsfrom Topeka West, so it's Topeka
West, junction City, gardenCity and Wichita Public Schools,
as well as the ROTC for K-Stateand Wichita State, because they
(17:49):
fall, even though they are aPittsburgh State affiliate, they
fall within our umbrella of thestate of our chapter.
So we fully support them.
And then we also have someother things that we're working
on that I can't really talkabout yet because we haven't
fully established those, butwe've got a what I call our game
plan.
But our annual plan has somevery specific things to do, also
(18:13):
trying to recruit new communitypartners.
We actually added nine new inthe last couple of months, which
is the most we've ever addedthat I can remember, and so
hopefully that's that we cancontinue that momentum as well.
Speaker 1 (18:29):
How can people get involved?
Speaker 2 (18:31):
So there's a couple of ways.
One, you can email me at eitherprezfortriley at ausaorg, or
you can email me at rbjankovicat gmailcom.
Also, you can go to the AUSAwebsite, ausaorg, and you can
join.
That way, there's sometremendous benefits to being a
(18:53):
member.
You can become a free memberthat lasts for two years and you
still get all the memberbenefits, or you can join as a
full member.
There's a little bit more thatcomes with it, which is the Army
Magazine and some other things,and there is a price for that.
But right now it's all halfprice.
So you can be a two-year,four-year or lifetime member at
half price, because we'recelebrating the Army 250th
(19:17):
birthday, which is this year, aswell as AUSA's 75th anniversary
.
So this year is a big, bigcelebration.
It will be a lot of fun.
Speaker 1 (19:27):
Reg Jankovich is his name.
He's here on behalf of theCentral Kansas chapter of the
AUSA, or the Fort Riley CentralKansas chapter.
Thanks for joining us, bud Goodto see you.
Speaker 2 (19:37):
Good, looking forward to the next time.
Speaker 1 (19:39):
All right Back with the final segment of the GMCF
Community Hour here on NewsRadioKMN after this break.
Philanthropy Today is brought to you by the Greater
Manhattan Community Foundation.
In this episode we feature arecently broadcast segment of
the GMCF Community Hour, asheard on NewsRadio KMAN.
Ready to go?
Is that our turn?
It is because you know, whenRich Jankovich steps into the
(00:20):
studio, I get distracted becausewe're longtime buddies and we
just we talk.
Okay, so let's get serious hereon the GMCF Community Hour
about what you and I are here totalk about today.
Speaker 2 (00:34):
Okay, let's get serious.
Congratulations on your wedding, thank you.
It was beautiful and I got totell you because Caroline and I
obviously were there, but wewent early to make sure we knew
where to park.
In my lifetime I had never beenat the gardens ever.
Speaker 1 (00:50):
What.
Speaker 2 (00:50):
Really Never.
Speaker 1 (00:52):
That is a community treasure.
Speaker 2 (00:54):
No kidding.
And we're walking around and mywife is a total plant person
and boom, and I'm like how didwe never come here?
It just wasn't on our thing.
Speaker 1 (01:05):
Okay, so now that you know this, we're going to get
you involved in a couple ofthings.
Speaker 2 (01:10):
Oh God, All you have to do is attend when they have
some events.
Speaker 1 (01:16):
That's all you need to do I mean?
There's organizations.
They've got a friends group,they've got all kinds of things,
but they've done a tremendousamount of work there over the
last couple of years.
Speaker 2 (01:26):
I remember when the barn was burning, when it was
still a hay barn.
Speaker 1 (01:28):
Yeah, and I don't go that far back but yeah, so
that's.
Speaker 2 (01:31):
but that's not what we're here, but it is
congratulations and it wasawesome.
And I got to meet your brideand since you hit her from me
for all those years.
Speaker 1 (01:39):
Yeah, Well, you know how many, how many of those
months were you in the hospital?
Speaker 2 (01:44):
Oh, just three, Just three.
You know that was a whole yearago.
Speaker 1 (01:48):
I'm going to have you pull that mic up a little bit
closer too, if you don't mind.
Yeah, there.
But yeah, we've had a lot goingon.
It's been a whirlwind for usand you know, there was a lot of
people, a lot of very goodfriends that met her for the
first time, and a lot of friendsand family that met me for the
(02:12):
first time too, so you know itwas more joyous for people to
meet her than it was for them tomeet me, but that's okay.
Okay, so let's roll to AUSA.
Speaker 2 (02:19):
AUSA is why we are here.
What's AUSA?
So, AUSA is the voice of thearmy, otherwise known as the
Association of the United StatesArmy, and it's not to be
confused with USAA, althoughthey are a national sponsor of
USA.
But we're an organization thatsupports the active duty Army,
Army Reserve, National Guard,veterans, spouses, et cetera,
(02:41):
across the planet.
Basically, we have chapters allover the world.
We just happen to be in regionfive and we're one of the oldest
chapters in the organization.
Speaker 1 (02:53):
And what is the local chapter like?
Speaker 2 (02:57):
So the local chapter, it's a bunch of volunteers that
have a passion for supportingour military and Fort Riley and
we are the one ID at the sametime, because they all they
today, they all go together.
That hopefully that doesn'tchange in the in the future, but
it's always something that wehave to be concerned with and
(03:18):
we've seen that happen in thenineties when the, the division,
reforgered to Germany for anumber of years and came back in
2005-6, which we spent a lot oftime working on together as we
were elected officials a littlebit later.
But it's you know, what we do iswe try and find ways to support
remiss, to say that we areunique in that we have two
(03:49):
tremendous partners in theManhattan area chamber, in the
Junction City area chamber ofcommerce, with the MRC soon to
be relabeled and to make alittle more robust, and the MAC
in Junction City.
So we have a lot of heavylifting that we can do with some
tremendous support, which isvery unique within the chapters
Because, as I talk to our otherchapter presidents, especially
(04:10):
in our region, but across theboard, their chapters don't have
the support of the Chambers ofCommerce that we do here.
Kansas City and Leavenworth arevery different than we are and
they are within my realm as I'mthe state president also plus
chapter president.
So it's kind of unique that Iget to serve kind of in two
roles.
Speaker 1 (04:30):
I think one of the things that always surprised me
about you you never served,Never.
But you have had a lifetimeinterest in the military and
that goes beyond the Army.
Yes, Because you have afascination for planes and you
(04:51):
know, and Air Force and such.
Speaker 2 (04:52):
Yeah, my grandfather and great uncle, who were
partners that founded theairport that's now the Gary
Chicago Regional Airport, wereboth Army Air Corps.
My grandfather flew AirTransport Command, flew the hump
into China, did a lot of otherthings.
My great uncle was a trainerpilot and a blanking on the
(05:16):
airbase that was by Waco, butthen he was transitioning to
P-38s to go to the South Pacificwhen Japan surrendered.
So it goes that far back.
My uncle, my dad's olderbrother, was a SAC wing
commander flying B-52s so I goback to you know that and
getting to be on an airbase andhim flying Operation Chrome Dome
(05:38):
, which most people don'tremember but we do from our days
as grade school students whenyou did civil defense drills.
You know, get under the deskwhen the atomic bomb is going to
go off.
Speaker 1 (05:49):
Put your hands behind your head, like that was going
to save us.
You know, no kidding.
Speaker 2 (05:53):
But he, you know, we had B-52s in the air 24-7 over
the Arctic Circle ready to goloaded with nuclear weapons.
So you know we've lived througha lot of those things loaded
with nuclear weapons.
So you know, we've livedthrough a lot of those things.
And and then through all that,and then my father's car
(06:13):
dealership was Key IncorporatedKey Pontiac first and Key
Incorporated.
You know, we did a lot of withthe, with the soldiers always
tried to do the right thing bythem, and so you know it's it's
one of those things where youappreciate what they have to go
through.
And then, obviously, when weboth got elected, we became very
popular with invitations andthings on post and I became very
(06:34):
close friends with peoplethrough that, and that's a way
to serve, because my graduatingclass was the last one required
to register and had a lotterybut no draft, and so you know we
had a choice.
You know we could serve or not.
I obviously chose not to.
I always wanted to be a pilotand my eyesight said no, and so
(06:56):
this is a way for me to giveback to those that serve and put
their life on the line on adaily basis.
Speaker 1 (07:01):
I think one thing that's neat about AUSA is that
you don't have to be someone whohas had a military background,
to help be a part of thatcommitment to those families,
those men and women that serveand their families, and that you
realize also the value thatthey bring to our community, not
(07:23):
just, you know, with thesewonderful people that are
serving our country Right, butyou know there is a more than
sizable economic impact that wehave here, mostly locally from
Fort Riley.
But you know and you lookacross, you know from the state
perspective, other communitieshave that as well.
And so this is a great way forindividuals who want to support
(07:45):
Our men and women and theirfamilies.
Speaker 2 (07:47):
Yeah, and what people don't realize, especially here
in Manhattan, and this is justthe reality of it.
We see the university as thedriver of a lot of our driver.
In reality, what the One ID andFort Riley bring is about 47%
of our total economic benefitcomes from them.
(08:11):
Give or take, 23% to 25% comesfrom the university.
It's hard to believe but it'sbecause you see people in purple
all the time.
You don't recognize the peoplein what is brought into the
economic impact from Fort Riley.
You have a city of itselfsitting there that is about
(08:32):
somewhere between 40 to 45,000people.
That also have additional folksthat live in our communities.
And I mean I go back to when Iwas growing up here during
Vietnam, and they were notallowed off post in uniform, and
now they can, and so you seethem a little more regularly.
But but now it's becomecommonplace and so you you have
(08:54):
a different perspective of whatthat means.
But during COVID, um, when thestudents somewhat disappeared
from from our community and FortRiley had to say you can't go
to certain places, the impactwas felt significantly.
Never thought about that, andthat was the first time that a
lot of our merchants you can'tgo to certain places the impact
was felt significantly.
Never thought about that andthat was the first time that a
(09:17):
lot of our merchants andbusinesses realized that.
What an impact they had because, oh, we'll be fine without the
students here.
Well, suddenly, no, it was very, very different.
And so, as we look forward, wetry to connect all the dots for
people to make understanding andbe as open as we can with what
the, what we know that'shappening at Fort Riley, so that
there's going to be preparationfor it.
(09:39):
You know, next year is going tobe interesting because there's
going to be a lot of deployment.
Good news not nine months ornot a year or so in combat, but
nine months at a time and lotsof.
We have the first brigade outright now.
They'll come back.
The division headquarters andDaVarti will go out, sustainment
will go out, the cab will goout or combat aviation brigade
(10:01):
and the second brigade will goout all next year at different
times and there'll be comingback at different times.
So the cycle will be different.
But the difference now from whenwe were in heavy combat during
the War on Terror is that thefamilies tend to stay because
the kids are in school.
There's not a threat ofobviously the worst possible,
(10:23):
that kind of flows, with thedivision's motto and the no
sacrifice too great.
We all know what that means,and so the families are staying
here.
Our employment base is betterthan it was, you know, even 20
years ago when the division wascoming back, so there's reasons
for them to stay.
We've integrated the families alot more closely than we did
(10:44):
before because they're here,they're where they like being
here and there's a lot for themto do.
Speaker 1 (10:50):
You know what is it the number?
I think that they say theeconomic impact that Fort Riley
makes here locally is in what $2billion $4 billion.
Speaker 2 (10:57):
$4 billion, $4 billion.
Yeah, wow, yeah, hard toimagine, yeah, yeah.
That's huge, but again, wefocus on Purple.
Every Saturday at Bill Snyderfamily stadium, 60,000 people,
or whatever the stadium holds.
Well, that that's a one day ora couple of days and this is
every day.
(11:17):
This is the people that havejobs at Fort Riley, that have
the companies that support themission of Fort Riley, that do
all the things that they do,that have people living in our
communities.
All of that Plus, they shop offpost.
They aren't just going to thecommissary, the PX, they are
coming in to our grocery stores,to our department stores, to
(11:39):
our local businesses to gettheir cars fixed, to get their
hair cut, to get their hair donefor those that go to a salon
versus a barber.
All those things add up andthat's what people don't realize
, because when they come inthey're probably not in uniform,
they're probably in civilianclothes, and so you don't
realize what they do.
And it's all important.
Speaker 1 (12:01):
Let's talk a bit about a fundraiser.
You have coming up working withChipotle.
Speaker 2 (12:06):
So part of what we need to do because we are a
nonprofit to support some of themissions is find ways to raise
money, and we are doing ourfirst fundraiser since I've been
president and I think reallysince Art DeGroat was the
president they did the yellowribbon thing during the War on
Terror we're having a fundraiserat Chipotle on October 8th,
from 5 to 9.
Chipotle on October 8th, from 5to 9.
(12:27):
When you go in to get your meal, just mention that you're part
of AUSA and they will donate 25%of the proceeds of that evening
and we're hoping for a bigturnout.
Speaker 1 (12:38):
We have put the word out as much as we can and this
is one of the venues we get todo that with and the date on
that again.
Speaker 2 (12:45):
October 8th.
Then Chipotle is in Aggieville.
The good news is theconstruction isn't where they
are, it's behind it.
So it's pretty easy to get toand from and they have their own
parking lot.
And they do have their ownparking lot.
But you can order online andwhen you go to pick up you just
make sure that they know whatit's about.
Speaker 1 (13:05):
One of the things you and I got to venture out on as
we went to DC a couple of times.
We were both in electedcapacities to go to the AUSA
National Convention, Correct?
What a wonderful opportunity.
Speaker 2 (13:18):
Yeah, that's coming up.
I will head out on October 10ththat will be it's always over
the well what we would callColumbus Day and whatever the
day is.
Now that I'm not sure that it'sstill a day, but it's
considered Indigenous People'sDay.
Thank you, I didn't want to gothe wrong direction there, but
it's really a three-day eventthat technically starts on
(13:41):
Sunday, the 11th, and they havethe Army 10-Miler and we have a
HUA tent that the McCormickFoundation is sponsoring for us,
and then 1ID is bringing in alot of assets to promote that.
And then we have the openingceremony, which is one of those
things that just tears at yourheart.
(14:03):
It's an amazing ceremony.
On Monday and then right afterthat we have our chapter social.
We have uh the commandinggeneral speaking at, and then
also a former um uh, one of, Ithink, second brigade CSM who is
now 54th artillery CSM, rickyJackson, who's going to
transition to uh the spacecommand, coming up in March, and
(14:28):
then as speakers, and then onTuesday we go on the Hill.
We do it differently than whenyou and I were there.
We meet with all of the thecongressional delegation
staffers in one shot instead ofgoing office to office to office
, which makes it a lot moreconducive for us to be able to
do that and not where everybodyelse.
(14:48):
Yeah, a lot.
And then that evening, onTuesday evening, is the chapter
social, where we invite all the1ID alumni to come and socialize
with us, and then some friendsof the 1ID as well.
And then Wednesday morning isour region breakfast, that the
Region 5, which is the regionthat we're in, has a breakfast.
The SMA and the Army Weimerwill be our keynote speaker
(15:12):
there.
So it's a really, really funand busy and important time for
us to be on the Hill because weget to speak directly to,
especially for us, and then weget a briefing from Baker
Donaldson, who's our lobbyist onMonday afternoon after the
chapter lunch and we get a much,much deeper dive into what's
(15:34):
going on for all military,because even though we are Army,
we do represent the state invarious capacities, and so it's
Army first and then we do allthe other services as well, and
because the veteran side of itis what we have to be.
And you can be a member of AUSAwhether you served or not,
(15:54):
whether you were Navy, marine,coast Guard, air Force or Army,
so it's, you know we'reinclusive that way, or civilian,
or so that's right If youdidn't serve and were a full
civilian yeah.
Speaker 1 (16:05):
Yeah, I just reinforced that, that's all.
Speaker 2 (16:07):
I just put it in one word.
That's okay, you can do that.
Speaker 1 (16:10):
Exactly, yeah, we got just a couple of minutes left
here.
Other efforts that the LocalAUSA chapter is involved in.
Speaker 2 (16:18):
Yeah, so you know, we have what I call our signature
sponsorship, which is Black TieTactical.
It's a fully, fully donated,volunteer run organization.
On Fort Riley.
We just moved from the originallocation on the hill down to
the historic portion of the post.
We're in the process ofremodeling the area that we were
(16:42):
able to occupy, but it's allabout formal wear, transition
clothing, clothing, somemilitary wear, as well as some
seminars on interviewing, ballbehavior, ball etiquette for the
military spouses, excuse meespecially and that will.
(17:04):
We've started the renovationperiod.
Tony Pablo, who's on my board,and I went out yesterday and
moved a lot of the furniturethat had to remain into a secure
area and now they're able tocome in, as the other team will
come in and begin the cleaning,the painting, setting it all up,
and hopefully I'm guessingwe'll be up and fully
(17:25):
operational probably by I'mguessing middle of October,
maybe just a little bit later,but that's soon to come.
We also support all the JROTCsfrom Topeka West, so it's Topeka
West, junction City, gardenCity and Wichita Public Schools,
as well as the ROTC for K-Stateand Wichita State, because they
(17:49):
fall, even though they are aPittsburgh State affiliate, they
fall within our umbrella of thestate of our chapter.
So we fully support them.
And then we also have someother things that we're working
on that I can't really talkabout yet because we haven't
fully established those, butwe've got a what I call our game
plan.
But our annual plan has somevery specific things to do, also
(18:13):
trying to recruit new communitypartners.
We actually added nine new inthe last couple of months, which
is the most we've ever addedthat I can remember, and so
hopefully that's that we cancontinue that momentum as well.
Speaker 1 (18:29):
How can people get involved?
Speaker 2 (18:31):
So there's a couple of ways.
One, you can email me at eitherprezfortriley at ausaorg, or
you can email me at rbjankovicat gmailcom.
Also, you can go to the AUSAwebsite, ausaorg, and you can
join.
That way, there's sometremendous benefits to being a
(18:53):
member.
You can become a free memberthat lasts for two years and you
still get all the memberbenefits, or you can join as a
full member.
There's a little bit more thatcomes with it, which is the Army
Magazine and some other things,and there is a price for that.
But right now it's all halfprice.
So you can be a two-year,four-year or lifetime member at
half price, because we'recelebrating the Army 250th
(19:17):
birthday, which is this year, aswell as AUSA's 75th anniversary
.
So this year is a big, bigcelebration.
It will be a lot of fun.
Speaker 1 (19:27):
Reg Jankovich is his name.
He's here on behalf of theCentral Kansas chapter of the
AUSA, or the Fort Riley CentralKansas chapter.
Thanks for joining us, bud Goodto see you.
Speaker 2 (19:37):
Good, looking forward to the next time.
Speaker 1 (19:39):
All right Back with the final segment of the GMCF
Community Hour here on NewsRadioKMN after this break.
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