Posted on Oct 4, 2017
Hello Bill Rausch here from Got Your 6. I am coming by on Tuesday for a live Q&A. What questions do you have for me?
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*RallyPoint Staff will be monitoring this discussion*
From RP Staff:
We are honored to welcome Bill Rausch to a live Q&A here n RallyPoint. Bill is the Executive Director at Got Your 6. He is a former Army Major with over ten years of service including 17 months in Iraq serving under Generals Casey and Petraeus while assigned to the Information Operations Task Force. Before joining GY6, Bill was Political Director at Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America where he oversaw policy and advocacy campaigns.
Prior to his veteran advocacy work, he was a Senior Consultant providing products and services to the Department of Veterans Affairs and Department of Defense while assigned to the Pentagon. Bill regularly testifies in front of Congress and has appeared on NBC Nightly News, C-SPAN’s Washington Journal and MSNBC’s coverage of Memorial Day and Veterans Day. Bill is also an active community leader and volunteer serving as Chapter Captain for Team Red, White & Blue (Team RWB) in his local community in Alexandria, VA. He serves on the Board of Directors at Volunteer Alexandria, an organization promoting volunteerism across all charity sectors. Bill received his Bachelor of Science in Geospatial Information Science from the United States Military Academy, West Point, NY.
From RP Staff:
We are honored to welcome Bill Rausch to a live Q&A here n RallyPoint. Bill is the Executive Director at Got Your 6. He is a former Army Major with over ten years of service including 17 months in Iraq serving under Generals Casey and Petraeus while assigned to the Information Operations Task Force. Before joining GY6, Bill was Political Director at Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America where he oversaw policy and advocacy campaigns.
Prior to his veteran advocacy work, he was a Senior Consultant providing products and services to the Department of Veterans Affairs and Department of Defense while assigned to the Pentagon. Bill regularly testifies in front of Congress and has appeared on NBC Nightly News, C-SPAN’s Washington Journal and MSNBC’s coverage of Memorial Day and Veterans Day. Bill is also an active community leader and volunteer serving as Chapter Captain for Team Red, White & Blue (Team RWB) in his local community in Alexandria, VA. He serves on the Board of Directors at Volunteer Alexandria, an organization promoting volunteerism across all charity sectors. Bill received his Bachelor of Science in Geospatial Information Science from the United States Military Academy, West Point, NY.
Q&A
Got Your 6
Movies
Non Profit Organizations
Transition
Posted 8 y ago
Responses: 23
Hi Everyone! Bill Rausch here kicking things off with our live Q&A. For those who have already asked questions, look for answers soon and for those who haven't asked a question yet, let's get to it! #boom
Hello Major Bill Rausch, thanks for coming by on RallyPoint to discuss on what’s actually happening with our Congress folks. First let me Thank you for your services to the US Army and to the VA. I’ve had the opportunity to work with Veterans and their families for over 16 years before I finally retired due to my disabilities. Our Veterans laws and their regulations are so antiquated and out of touch with reality of today’s issues. I keep hearing about Veterans homelessness, Veterans suicide and backlogged of claims. My question to you, as an officer and someone who worked with the VA and other volunteer organizations, How would you describe the atmosphere at our highest level of Government and in your opinion could we do as Veterans who walk the line before? Again, thanks for dropping by and especially sharing your time with us here on RallyPoint. Semper Fidelis
MAJ Bill Rausch
Thank you for your service and Go Army! I agree that many of our laws are antiquated and don't always help folks dealing with day to day issues. In my experience most folks in government have good intentions, but often in Washington our government leaders get out of touch with what people need at the local level. This is why we hired a Director of Gov't Relations, Lauren Augustine, to listen to members of our coalition partners and to take those stories to the Hill and the highest levels of government. Using this approach we've taken issues directly to Presidents Obama and Trump, VA Secretary's McDonald and Shulkin, and numerous Congressional leaders from both parties. Almost always, these leaders are thankful we brought real world issues to their attention. Obviously, this isn't scalable and that's why Lauren is working with our coalition members to educate and inform members of Congress to reform old laws and to pass new ones that accurately serve and empower our entire community. Love the question and Semper Fi my Marine brother! #boom
CWO3 (Join to see)
MAJ Bill Rausch - Sir, I thank you for your help and time spent with us all on RallyPoint and thank you for informing me what is going on in DC. Go Army Warrior Brother. Gunner K.
Thanks for joining us, Bill! It would be great to hear about your transition out of the Army and how you ended up at GY6. With your deep understanding of the film industry, where would you say there is the highest demand, or potentially best fit for veteran backgrounds?
MAJ Bill Rausch
Thanks for the question. The hardest thing for me during my transition was finding that sense of purpose again. We had a mission in the military — a shared sense of purpose and camaraderie that disappears when you take off the uniform. A lot of us struggle with missing that. For me, that sense of purpose came back when I realized that my service wasn’t done and that I had a lot left to give. I started the Alexandria, Virginia chapter of Team Red, White & Blue, which is a nonprofit organization that enriches the lives of vets by connecting them to their community through physical and social activities -- everything from running to serving alongside each other in our community. It brought me to nonprofit work, where I’m able to encourage and empower veterans to continue to work as the leaders and civic assets they are. And to be clear, finding that sense of purpose is just as hard for non-veterans. We all struggle with it and I believe it’s a lack of community that we have in this country that’s contributing to it. We at Got Your 6 are working to rebuild that sense of community, and we’re looking to empower veterans to lead from the front to help strengthen communities across the country. For vets who want to break into the film industry I recommend checking out a great nonprofit who we partner with, Veterans in Film and Television (VFT): http://www.vftla.org/
Bill, been a fan of GY6 for awhile now, how are you dealing with the aftermath of the WWP scandal as many veteran non-profits (and non-veteran non-profits for that matter) are under intense scrutiny and trust has been lost amongst the veteran community?
MAJ Bill Rausch
All nonprofits -- including VSOs! -- SHOULD be under scrutiny. After all, we run on donations coming from individuals like you and me, as well as from corporate and foundation partners trying to support good causes. I can tell you that I know and work with the new leadership at WWP, and they are committed to rebuilding trust with the veteran community and the rest of the country. They know they have a long way to go but, like Got Your 6, they are focused on programs that empower veterans and are taking a values based approach that puts the warrior first! Because of this we've made the decision to partner with them and that's something I'm proud of given their new direction and leadership!
Bill,
First and foremost, thank you for your service, and continued service to this country as an advocate to our troops in the various ways you see fit to do so. It seems no matter your path, you burn a trail for others to follow - a true leader!
As a medically retired NCO almost 20 years ago after a solid 10 years of service, I had a hard time with my transition. What can I do on the outside? How do my job skills translate? How does my NCO leadership skills translate to management skills? How did my ELINT training equate to educational training for job experience? The various experiences I had with equipment and such, I truly had no idea how to word-smith any of this for a resume. Back then, we had ACAP, I believe of recent, it is now TAP. Since I have been on RP, I see folks with some very similar questions, though not exactly stated the same, as times have changed and software, additionally the mentoring of personnel offering guidance. What can we do to continue to better prepare our personnel for that transition? We spend billions of dollars every year to bring them in and train them, but only a few million to say goodbye. We then leave it to the VA. And now that I am dealing with the VA, I have gone through the VOC/REHAB program and achieved a BS, Graduate Cert., and MBA since. In dealing with the VA, I find that the process is worse, than the process is with ACAP/TAP because it is stretched out over weeks and months to get folks in, where as folks should have that same readied assist as if they were in TAP on Active Duty - it’s not a medical appointment and most jobs don’t change that often! We have so many veterans without jobs now, that the discouragement continues to rise for many to even try to go back to work and I want to say it begins with before they even leave out of the service!
With that, what can we do differently to mold these folks back into civilians, and give them the proper start with the good resume’s, the good leads, better than we are now? To me, folks that are networking are beating the system, because they are not having to go through the hardships. I know, because believe it or not, for the past 18 years - that was me, I always had a lead. Today, well, today I don’t! Not complaining, I just slid through the system. But I’ve seen a lot with folks over the past 25 years and am humbled by the experiences I’ve seen in action and wonder, what can “we” do better legislatively? Why haven’t we? We have Vets dropping left and right and we are blaming suicide. Well everything stems from a beginning. Some from the experiences they had in the military, some from the experiences they could not achieve on the outside... Folks often move to the drugs and alcohol to alleviate their current frames of mind, not just because of pain and suffering, but due to the depressive states. Causes and effects. Just an example, if I had a job, I wouldn’t be drinking so much or taking so many of my pills to taking the pains away... We leave entirely too much up to the VA at times and I feel some of the burden is still on the military service elements!
In closing, I appreciate the feedback, as does anyone that is still transitioning, or those that may have already transitioned! Everyone on here has had help from someone, to guide them through that process!
Thank you for your time kind Sir!
V/R,
Jim Ramge
P.S. Thought just crossed my mind for those active duty members... NCO/Officer’s time (or whatever it’s called these days) what would be wrong with using some year-end budget and bringing in an HR professional resume writer for training?)
First and foremost, thank you for your service, and continued service to this country as an advocate to our troops in the various ways you see fit to do so. It seems no matter your path, you burn a trail for others to follow - a true leader!
As a medically retired NCO almost 20 years ago after a solid 10 years of service, I had a hard time with my transition. What can I do on the outside? How do my job skills translate? How does my NCO leadership skills translate to management skills? How did my ELINT training equate to educational training for job experience? The various experiences I had with equipment and such, I truly had no idea how to word-smith any of this for a resume. Back then, we had ACAP, I believe of recent, it is now TAP. Since I have been on RP, I see folks with some very similar questions, though not exactly stated the same, as times have changed and software, additionally the mentoring of personnel offering guidance. What can we do to continue to better prepare our personnel for that transition? We spend billions of dollars every year to bring them in and train them, but only a few million to say goodbye. We then leave it to the VA. And now that I am dealing with the VA, I have gone through the VOC/REHAB program and achieved a BS, Graduate Cert., and MBA since. In dealing with the VA, I find that the process is worse, than the process is with ACAP/TAP because it is stretched out over weeks and months to get folks in, where as folks should have that same readied assist as if they were in TAP on Active Duty - it’s not a medical appointment and most jobs don’t change that often! We have so many veterans without jobs now, that the discouragement continues to rise for many to even try to go back to work and I want to say it begins with before they even leave out of the service!
With that, what can we do differently to mold these folks back into civilians, and give them the proper start with the good resume’s, the good leads, better than we are now? To me, folks that are networking are beating the system, because they are not having to go through the hardships. I know, because believe it or not, for the past 18 years - that was me, I always had a lead. Today, well, today I don’t! Not complaining, I just slid through the system. But I’ve seen a lot with folks over the past 25 years and am humbled by the experiences I’ve seen in action and wonder, what can “we” do better legislatively? Why haven’t we? We have Vets dropping left and right and we are blaming suicide. Well everything stems from a beginning. Some from the experiences they had in the military, some from the experiences they could not achieve on the outside... Folks often move to the drugs and alcohol to alleviate their current frames of mind, not just because of pain and suffering, but due to the depressive states. Causes and effects. Just an example, if I had a job, I wouldn’t be drinking so much or taking so many of my pills to taking the pains away... We leave entirely too much up to the VA at times and I feel some of the burden is still on the military service elements!
In closing, I appreciate the feedback, as does anyone that is still transitioning, or those that may have already transitioned! Everyone on here has had help from someone, to guide them through that process!
Thank you for your time kind Sir!
V/R,
Jim Ramge
P.S. Thought just crossed my mind for those active duty members... NCO/Officer’s time (or whatever it’s called these days) what would be wrong with using some year-end budget and bringing in an HR professional resume writer for training?)
MAJ Bill Rausch
So many great questions and lessons learned -- thank you for sharing. I think the one thing that comes to mind while reading your question is the importance of taking care of each other. It is something that is critical to success in the military. Heck, it's what the phrase GOT YOUR 6 means; I've got your back! If there is one thing folks should take with them when they leave military service it should be to keep looking out for and taking care of each other no matter where we go or what we do. We should never feel alone, and I know that many of us often do. When I think back to my most difficult days in the military, in or out of a combat zone, there was always a person who took care of me who had my six! We need more of those relationships out of the military and I'd argue that all Americans need the type of community and battle buddies for us to be successful as a country. I hope that makes sense and thank you for your service in and out of uniform. Don't let up!
Hi Sir,
Thanks for your time. What motivated you you start Got Your 6? And how have your skills from the military helped along the way?
Thanks for your time. What motivated you you start Got Your 6? And how have your skills from the military helped along the way?
MAJ Bill Rausch
I've always wanted to make a positive difference in the lives of other people and that was my motivation for working in and for the veteran community. The skills I learned in the military have def helped me, especially the leadership lessons I learned at West Point and in the Army. The phrase mission first, people always is something I think about often. While Got Your 6 serves and empowers veterans, I have a staff to take care of and lead which is critical to our success. Taking care of them and giving them the tools they need to succeed is one of the most important parts of my job and my time as a PL and CO directly inform my current approach. I would also say choosing the harder right over the easier wrong is a life lesson the Army instilled in me. We've turned down partnership opportunities with people and organizations who do not share our values or purpose and while that can be difficult I believe it has made us stronger in the end.
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Please assist 'Veterans in Politics' the five Boroughs of New York City and our local Veterans. Help us take a stand against Veterans Suicide, unemployment, Veterans Medical care. And assist us organize and hold meetings, buy business cards and letter head, Jackets. And plan a large Pro-American...
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