Buckley announces civilian workforce restructuring Published Nov. 4, 2011 By Staff Report 460th Space Wing Public Affairs BUCKLEY AIR FORCE BASE, Colo- -- Buckley officials announced today the projected elimination of civilian positions in response to direction from the Secretary of Defense to cap civilian growth above fiscal year 2010 levels. The eliminated positions - 17 positions by April 1, 2012, and seven positions by Oct. 1, 2012 - are largely in support functions, such as civil engineering and services, as well as some command staff functions. Some of the cuts at Buckley are in positions that are vacant. In the remaining positions, base leadership is working each case individually to place, where skill sets match, employees in other vacant positions on base. "We are committed to minimizing the impact of Air Force budgetary reductions and organizational changes on Buckley's civilian workforce," said Col. Dan Dant, 460th Space Wing commander. "Civilian employees provide an invaluable service to Team Buckley's day-to-day operations both local and worldwide. We'll be taking every step we can and use all means available to take care of those affected by these reductions and minimize impacts to our Nationally-important mission." As part of the overall restructuring, 9,000 positions will be eliminated throughout the Air Force; however, 5,900 positions were or will be added to top Air Force priorities in acquisition, the nuclear enterprise, and intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance. Altogether, these adjustments reflect several initiatives designed to align limited resources based on Air Force priorities. This process is an ongoing effort to increase efficiencies, reduce overhead and eliminate redundancy. "The initiatives announced Nov. 2 represent the next step toward that goal, but there is more work to be done," said Brig. Gen. Gina Grosso, director of Manpower, Organization, and Resources. "The Air Force remains over fiscal year 2010 manpower levels and will continue to develop enterprise-wide solutions to achieve our goals with minimal impact to mission. The Air Force must still define an additional 4,500 civilian positions for reduction." As details become final, Air Force officials will release information on the next set of initiatives. Upon receiving the Secretary of Defense's 2010 memo directing that civilian manpower costs stay within fiscal year 2010 levels, the Air Force began a comprehensive strategic review of the entire AF civilian workforce to determine whether or not civilian authorizations were in the right places to meet mission priorities. "We can't be successful without our talented and experienced civilian workforce," said Michael B. Donley, Secretary of the Air Force. "We are making difficult choices about how to deliberately restructure and posture the force and will continue to look for new ways of accomplishing the mission. We can't afford business as usual." The strategic review revealed several imbalances. Some high-priority areas needed to grow, while some management and overhead functions needed streamlining. These imbalances led to a variety of initiatives focused on realigning scarce manpower resources with the most critical missions. Beginning in May 2011, the Air Force implemented a series of hiring controls and voluntary separation programs designed to reduce overall manpower costs, but these hiring controls did not provide the results required to operate within fiscal constraints. "At this time, we are not sure whether a reduction in force will be necessary," Grosso said. "We are pursuing all available voluntary force management measures to include civilian hiring controls with the goal of avoiding non-voluntary measures. Every vacancy we don't fill brings us one position closer to fiscal year 2010 levels and reduces the possibility for a RIF." "We clearly understand the turbulence these and future reductions will cause in the workforce," said Gen. Norton Schwartz, Air Force Chief of Staff. "We are making every effort to use voluntary measures to achieve reductions whenever possible." Given the constrained fiscal environment, Air Force members should expect continued workforce shaping measures affecting military, civilians, and contractors, Grosso said. "We understand the stress caused by uncertainty and will do our best to share information across the workforce as soon as it becomes available," said Grosso.