Evans: Communication is key in working through civilian cuts

  • Published
  • By Air Force Col. Robert Evans
  • Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson and 673d Air Base Wing commander
JOINT BASE ELMENDORF-RICHARDSON, Alaska --  The Air Force notified Congress Wednesday of the second round of civilian personnel cuts. At JBER, we will lose 44 additional positions; 17 of these positions are currently filled by JBER employees with the remaining positions vacant.

These employees were notified by their commanders Wednesday and provided additional information. When added to the first-round cuts announced Nov. 10, we have about 70 affected employees at JBER.

Of the employees affected by the November cuts, we have placed about a third in new jobs.

You have our commitment that we will continue to work hard to place as many people as possible. However, it may take several months to place impacted employees and there is no guarantee all can be placed.

The initial reductions, voluntary separation and early retirement incentives have not produced the civilian workforce reductions the Department of Defense required of the Air Force, leading to the additional cuts announced today.

In total, the Air Force moved to cut a total of about 4,500 positions in this round in addition to the approximately 9,000-position reduction in November.

Reductions at JBER from both rounds total approximately 300 and when new positions, including the hiring of new Air Force civilian gate guards, are included the net civilian position loss is approximately 220.

The Air Force also announced this week another survey for Voluntary Early Retirement Authority and Voluntary Separation Incentive Program. Information about this will be disseminated by the civilian personnel office by the end of the week. If you are interested, please ensure you complete the survey and provide it to CPO.

However, please do not apply unless you are reasonably certain you will take VERA/VSIP if offered. We will plan to use any created vacancies to try to place our affected employees from both rounds of reductions.

Communication is the key to working through challenges like this. During these uncertain times, we will do our best to keep you informed. I will hold a civilian call Jan. 24 to provide an update and discuss the way forward. I also plan to release information through subsequent e-mails and articles in the Arctic Warrior paper. For additional information or assistance please contact the civilian personnel office at 552-3572.

This will be a challenging year and we will likely see some reductions in the levels of service we provide. However, I remain fully confident that we will continue to deliver world-class installation services, supporting our Soldiers, Airmen and their Families, while enabling their missions.

Our magnificent civilian workforce is the cornerstone of our success, and I am enormously grateful for your dedicated service to our nation.

These reductions, while necessary to operate within the constrained fiscal environment, do not reflect on the value or contributions of individual employees. Without your help, we could not be successful. Thank you for all that you do.

Arctic Tough, Mission Ready, Family Strong!