Furloughs to affect 800 civilians at Holloman Air Force Base
More than 800 civilians at Holloman Air Force Base will be affected as a result of Tuesday’s announcement by Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel regarding civilian furloughs.
According to Air Force guidance and Holloman’s civilian personnel office, civilians are scheduled to receive official notification of furlough between May 28 and June 5.
Beginning July 8 civilian employees will be furloughed one day per week for the remainder of the fiscal year. The furlough only applies to Holloman’s 826 civilians paid with appropriated funds. Employees paid with non-appropriated funds are exempt.
“Our civilian Team Holloman members perform critical functions like maintenance, intelligence, logistics, contracting, and health care,” said Col. Andy Croft, 49th Wing Commander. “This impact to our base is a difficult one, but every effort was made across the Department of Defense to reduce spending in order to ultimately help reduce the number of furlough days our civilian team members and their families will have to endure.”
The Air Force has suspended flying at 12 active duty squadrons, while the Army and Navy have cut training hours and deployments. The DoD has implemented a hiring freeze, made cuts in facility maintenance and repair, and has canceled key public engagements that would have taken any taxpayer dollars away from the mission.
“We took a base-wide approach to ensure we mitigated any adverse impact to readiness and mission accomplishment,” Croft said. “We will continue to support our population of service members and their families, military retirees and German Air Force personnel with whatever services we can continue to provide as we navigate through these budgetary challenges.”
Croft said he encourages every member of Team Holloman to remain focused on the mission while our nation goes through this tough financial situation.
“Each of our civilian employees is a respected contributor to the readiness of our Air Force, and we appreciate their service to our nation,” he said. “I have no doubt that Team Holloman will come together as we continue to take care of one another and accomplish our missions.”
Source: Holloman Air Force Base
