An official website of the United States government
A .mil website belongs to an official U.S. Department of Defense organization in the United States.
A lock (lock ) or https:// means you’ve safely connected to the .mil website. Share sensitive information only on official, secure websites.

Due to the government shutdown, this website is not being updated.
***Workforce Resources***

AFDW commander conducts town halls on potential sequestration impacts

  • Published
  • By Michael P. Kleiman
  • By Air Force District of Washington Public Affairs
JOINT BASE ANDREWS, Md --  Air Force District of Washington Commander Maj. Gen. Sharon K.G. Dunbar held town hall meetings Tuesday and Thursday at the Andrews Base Theater to provide civilian and military members with the latest information about sequestration and the civilian administrative furlough process.

Under the Budget Control Act of 2011, sequestration established mandatory federal spending cuts if deficit reduction legislation was not enacted into law. As a result, President Obama signed a sequester order on March 1. This order triggered the process to eliminate $85 billion in government spending over the next seven months.

"The sequestration order initiated a $1.2 trillion reduction in government spending over a 10-year period. Half of this amount will be from the DOD budget," said Dunbar. "For Fiscal Year 2013, DOD must reduce spending by $52 billion. Of that amount, $13.8 billion will come from the Air Force."

Dunbar told audiences the Air Force implemented cost-cutting measures prior to sequestration. These include flying only mission-essential operations and canceling all non-mission essential expenditures.

"I requested our entire AFDW team attend these town hall meetings because our civilian Airmen are essential to our mission success," Dunbar said. "Our civilians are tremendous patriots. Their expertise, experience and continuity contribute immeasurably to Air Force capabilities and success."

Sequestration involves the potential furlough of over 6,000 civilian employees in the National Capital Region, so representatives from AFDW Finance and Civilian Personnel offices were on hand to explain how this may affect civilian pay and work schedules. Most employees could be furloughed two days per pay period for the last 22 weeks of the fiscal year, equating to a 20% cut in pay during this period. While on administrative furlough, federal employees would be placed on temporary non-duty, non-pay status. Potential furlough letters could be issued mid-month. A furlough decision letter could follow in late April on the effective date of furlough. With either, impacted civilian employees will receive individualized letters.

Should an administrative furlough occur the Air Force is estimated to save $1 billion for the remainder of the fiscal year.

"There are many unknowns associated with sequestration but one thing is clear - these are unprecedented times and we'll get through them together as a team and family," said Dunbar.

Air Force leaders are concerned about the loss of pay causing financial and other personal hardships. Several resources are available to assist civilian Airmen including the Joint Base Andrews Military and Family Support Center, (301) 981-7087; the AFDW Civilian Personnel Hotline, (240) 612-6608; and the AFDW Financial Management Hotline, (240) 612-5900.

"You have my personal commitment that as soon as we get more information, we will pass it along. We plan to conduct more town hall meetings so we can discuss each step along the way. We're all in this together," said General Dunbar.

The AFDW website contains the latest sequestration and furlough information at http://www.afdw.af.mil/sequestrationandfurlough/index.asp. Additional resources to assist civilian personnel are also available on the myPers site at https://mypers.af.mil. Personnel should enter "Civilian: Furlough Home Page" in the search window. For other furlough information, visit the Office of Personnel Management site at www.opm.gov.