Episode Transcript
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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 as heardon NewsRadio KMAN.
And we are back.
Next segment on the GMCFCommunity Hour is all about the
Central Kansas Chapter of AUSAand there's a lot of work.
(00:22):
I guess it's Fort Riley-CentralKansas chapter.
The chapter president is RichJankovich.
Good to have you in the studio,my friend.
Speaker 2 (00:31):
Thanks for letting me
be here.
Speaker 1 (00:32):
Appreciate it.
It's easy.
All you have to do is say hey,I'd like to be on the radio.
Speaker 2 (00:38):
You just need a body
to fill the spot.
I got it Okay.
You know there are some dayswhere that's not as easy as you
think, yeah, yeah.
Speaker 1 (00:45):
Well, let's just talk
a bit about what AUSA is and
familiarize our listeners withthe project Sure.
Speaker 2 (00:53):
So first you know I
have to thank Purple Wave for
allowing me to do some of thework that I do as a volunteer,
like what I do with AUSA.
I serve as a chapter presidentfor the Fort Riley, central
Kansas, which is kind of amisnomer.
Our chapter actually spans fromeast of Topeka all the way to
the western border of the state.
We're one of the biggestchapters in terms of actual
(01:16):
reach in the entire AUSA UnitedStates part and there's some
other chapters that you know,like in Minneapolis.
They have the whole state butthey focus very heavily on
Minneapolis and we cover thewhole thing.
I also am the state president.
Oddly enough, our Kansas Citychapter and Leavenworth chapter
voted me as state presidentbecause we have we're one of the
(01:40):
few states that have multiplechapters and then we absorbed
the Topeka chapter a year ago.
So Associated United States Armywe're a nonprofit education and
professional developmentassociation that we serve
America's Army, our veterans,the National Guard Reserves and
their families, and it's veryimportant work.
(02:02):
And then we also advocate forthose same people to try and
help get the needs changed, someof the things that have
happened in Kansas.
We've worked very closely withPerry Wiggins to get some
changes like the reciprocal lawfor licensing for nurses and
teachers et cetera, so that wecan attract the trailing spouses
(02:25):
, whether they be male or female, but the spouses having good
opportunities to come to Kansasand work and not have to stay
behind at their previous dutystation and a soldier being here
alone, so that helps bring thefamilies along with it.
We have great schools et cetera.
So we try to promote all thosethings at the same time.
Speaker 1 (02:46):
For our listeners'
benefit.
When you mentioned PerryWiggins, he's a retired
three-star from Fort Riley butalso is serving as chair as the
Governor's Military Council.
Speaker 2 (02:53):
That's correct, and
he's a former Danger Six, which
would be the commanding generalof the 1st Infantry Division.
So he's a phenomenal resourceperson and advocate for not just
the Army, even though that washis branch.
He does a great job of servingKansas and all that Kansas has
to offer for the military andbecause he has to also represent
(03:16):
, obviously, the Air Force, buthe's also representing veterans.
We have veterans from allservices in the state of Kansas.
Speaker 1 (03:22):
And one of the things
that I think you know when you
talk about Perry Wiggins, youknow he could have retired
anywhere, yes, but he chose toretire here, and that is
something that happens ratherfrequently.
Speaker 2 (03:33):
More now than it was?
Yeah, exactly.
Speaker 1 (03:36):
And we're seeing a
lot of these individuals that
served in a high rankingcapacity, that retired here and
you know I think of Phil Maddoxis one, and there's a bunch that
have.
Speaker 2 (03:46):
Mike Dodson being
another one.
Speaker 1 (03:49):
John Seitz, you know
you think about all the people
that have tremendous legacy inserving at Fort Riley, that have
chosen to stay here, and thatalso explains a little bit about
what that need is for the AUSA,correct?
Speaker 2 (04:05):
So you know, we're
very fortunate as a chapter and
really as a state, but really asour chapter, because we have
two phenomenal partners in theMilitary Relations Committee
with the Manhattan Area Chamberof Commerce and the Military
Affairs Committee at theJunction City Chamber of
Commerce, and we have two greatpeople, christian Bishop and Rob
Wilson, who we work very, veryclosely with and we try to be in
(04:31):
the middle and yoke everythingtogether that we can and then we
fill the voids where the MRCand the MAC may not be able to
accomplish a specific mission,and then we can step in and do
that.
But because we have greaterresources for specific things
that we're trying to work ontoday and one of which is coming
(04:52):
up on Tuesday next week withour joint MRC MAC luncheon that
AUSA is also a sponsor of, we'rebringing in General Hamm, who
is also a former Danger Six andhe 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
(05:14):
has a tremendous affection forFort Riley and the central Flint
Hills.
So those are things that we cando that are a little bit
different because we can bringpeople in.
Sometimes we have to fund, andwe do fund specific things that
we can as well, as we can bringpeople in from our national
speakers bureau that AUSA paysfor, and so we're trying to work
(05:35):
on some things with youngprofessionals and others.
But a big event coming up isthe joint luncheon next Tuesday
and you can go.
Junction City has the websiteup there.
They're technically the conduitfor all the registrations for
this.
The two groups divide andconquer on what missions they
(05:55):
have to get this lunch together.
Divide and conquer on whatmissions they have to get this
lunch together.
We're bringing in the speakerand then also, oddly enough,
usaa, not to be confused withAUSA.
Usaa is also a sponsor with usto bring General Hamm in, as is
Purple Wave.
So we work very hard to connectall the dots, because one of the
missions is to connect and wetry to connect leaders,
(06:17):
businesses, the communities tothe soldiers to make it less
intimidating for them to bearound each other.
Because I always get asked howdo you integrate into Fort Riley
?
I said you just get to knowyour neighbors and you know it
used to be when I was growing upand when Mitzi would have been
growing up here and probably youas well, dave and Abilene,
(06:38):
soldiers weren't allowed offpost in uniform, and that's
changed a lot.
But you don't know that yourneighbor is necessarily military
unless you happen to see themin uniform.
And so you see them in thegrocery store, you see their
families and they're in ourschools.
And we do as much as we can toconnect the communities together
, to bring them together tocelebrate what it is.
(07:00):
And another example would havebeen Friday night this past week
Lieutenant Dan Band played forthe fifth time at Fort Riley.
It was a great concert.
There were some communitymembers there organization, the
flint hills bourbon club thatthat brought all brought a lot
more people in than the normalfrom the communities but were
(07:21):
able to celebrate and be aroundthe soldiers and their families.
And then we also celebrated the250 birthday of the army in
kansas city on saturday night.
Our chapter was one of thesponsors and as state president
I'm representing a bunch all ofthem and gary Sinise, oddly
enough, was the keynote speakerand I had a chance to meet him
(07:42):
and I will tell you he is onevery humble individual and
sincere and it was amazing tosee him perform on Friday night
and then actually get a chanceto meet him on Saturday night at
the event, and Kansas City doesa great job with their chapter
of doing an event like that andwe will celebrate the 250th
(08:02):
birthday next Tuesday.
Speaker 1 (08:04):
Okay, let's talk a
bit about membership of AUSA.
Yeah, and I think one of thethings that's rather unique, you
know, and because you and Iknow each other quite well,
we've been friends for a longtime.
You are not a veteran.
Speaker 2 (08:18):
I am not.
I am a very unique individualwithin the AUSA structure.
I am a civilian.
I have never served.
I've been accused of serving Ishouldn't say accused but people
, people confuse, confuse.
You know my passion with thosethat have served.
(08:39):
And I grew up in Manhattan andit'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'tmatter what I decided to do.
I was going to be draftedbecause my number was low enough
(09:01):
and my registration was goodenough that I would serve, and
so this is a good way for me togive back to soldiers.
And so this is a good way forme to give back to soldiers and
knowing what they go through andas close as I've become to many
of them, the life of asoldier's family is very
different than a civilian family.
(09:23):
You can talk about, you knowcorporate moves and all that,
but typically in a corporateenvironment, the spouse is not
gone for a year or nine monthsand they're not being shot at,
not being threatened and so youknow, when you're around a
division like the 1ID, you getto know those people really well
(09:45):
and the things that they gothrough.
And when the spouses aren'tthere, there's a support need
and that's one of the thingsthat I try very, very hard with
Caroline, my wife, to try andgive back in a way that is
meaningful.
I know Saturday night GarySinise talked about the first
time that he volunteered withUSO and his third trip was to a
(10:10):
hospital in Germany during theIraqi freedom and he was the
first part of it was withsoldiers that were wounded, that
were going to go back intocombat and he said I didn't know
what I was going to do or I wasgoing to say, so I felt very
humbled and he said all of asudden somebody yells Lieutenant
Dan, and the whole, the wholeroom lights up.
He said then I had to go to the, to the floor where the
(10:33):
soldiers were that weren't goingback, that were going to be
sent home, that may or may notrecover, and I'm sitting with
family members.
And he said I learned thatshowing up actually means
something.
And my wife and I talked aboutthat on the way back from Kansas
City yesterday and I said Ifeel that but it never feels
like enough.
And so I, you know, as ourchapter, our board, our state,
(10:59):
you know I'm driven because Idon't believe we do enough.
And everybody has a passion andwe try to match those passions
with our mission and get peopleexcited about doing it.
And so, membership-wise,anybody can be a member of AUSA
and there's some great benefitsto be a member and you can go to
the AUSA website, ausaorg, andit'll tell you all about it.
(11:21):
You can be a free member, whichis new over the last couple of
years.
You can be a two-year member oryou can be a life member, which
means you pay one fee for thewhole time and right now, with
the Army 250, we are halfpricing everything.
So it's a great time to join.
If anybody's interested islistening, join.
(11:42):
You want to choose the chapter5301 if you're asked, but we
also match up based off of zipcode.
The other side of that is, bybeing a member, you add to the
force.
We're roughly 2 million membersstrong.
We're one of the largestmilitary service organizations
in the country, which means wehave a strong voice with
(12:05):
Congress, because when we showup, we listen and part of our
education.
When we go to National, whichis kind of a big event in
October, there'll be 50,000 to60,000 people in DC swarming on
the complex.
Dave and I have been theretogether.
It's a spectacle that isincredible and it truly
celebrates the Army, but also,you know, being 250 years old as
(12:29):
an Army.
Ausa is now 75 years old, whichis a great milestone as well,
and we're celebrating that alongwith the Army 250 birthday.
Speaker 1 (12:41):
How can people find
out more and get involved?
Speaker 2 (12:44):
So you can do one of
two things.
You can reach out to actually afew things.
You can reach out to myself.
You can reach out to actuallyone of a few things.
You can reach out to myself.
You can reach out to Christian.
You can reach out to Robthrough the MAC, the MRC or me
directly at rbjankovich atgmailcom, or you can go to the
ausaorg website and it'll tellyou all about AUSA.
(13:04):
Our chapter is we're going tomeet in about a month for a
retreat.
I go through our battle planfor 2026 because our fiscal year
ends June 30.
We'll have some fundraisingopportunities that we'll be
coming up with.
We're going to do somereorganization of our website or
social media and you'll see alot of activity, hopefully a lot
(13:29):
more activity with what we'vegot going on.
Speaker 1 (13:33):
Sounds good.
Rich Jankovich, our guest.
Obviously, many of you possiblyremember, rich used to be a
city commissioner and has beenvery involved in the community,
and the Jankovich name has a lotof legacy in this community and
we appreciate all the work youdo here in the community and
also for USA.
Thank you, appreciate it.
We'll be back in just a coupleof moments to wrap up the show.
(13:54):
Mitzi, are you going to talkthis time?
Mitzi, are you going to join usor are you just going to sit
here and watch?
Speaker 2 (13:59):
I'll probably just
watch.
Speaker 1 (14:00):
Just sit here and
watch.
We'll talk about some thingsthat are happening in the
community and also give you apreview of next week's show.
This is the GMCF Community Hour.
We do this every Monday morningin the 10 o'clock time frame
here on NewsRadio KMAN.
No-transcript.