Vance to lose 5 civilian jobs as part of Air Force cost-cutting initiative
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November 07, 2011
By Jeff Mullin, Senior Writer
Enid News and Eagle
11/3/2011
ENID — As part of an Air Force initiative to trim civilian jobs in anticipation of budget cuts, five civilian positions have been or will be eliminated at Vance Air Force Base.
No contract positions will be affected by these cuts, according to a press release from the Vance Public Affairs office.
Col. Russ Mack, commander of 71st Flying Training Wing, said the people whose positions are being eliminated have been notified of the decision. He added, however, that just because a position is being eliminated doesn’t necessarily mean five people will lose their jobs.
“Wing and squadron leadership are working to relocate affected Team Vance members into other vacant positions which they are qualified to fill,” Mack said. “The civilian work force at Vance is a valuable asset, needed to keep our aircraft flying and our pilot training mission on track.”
Wednesday, the Air Force announced it was eliminating approximately 9,000 positions, while, at the same time, adding 5,900 positions in high-priority areas. The added positions will be in the areas of acquisition, the nuclear mission, intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance. The positions eliminated will be in management, staff and support areas.
“We can’t be successful without our talented and experienced civilian work force,” 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.”
According to the fiscal year 2010 Economic Impact Analysis for Vance, the base employed 1,166 civilians, 1,100 of whom are contractors.
The Air Force announced Wednesday Tinker Air Force Base in Midwest City would become the command site for a new Air Force sustainment and logistics center. As a result, Tinker is slated to lose 269 civilian positions. Tinker employs some 26,000 civilian, military and contractor personnel.
In anticipation of deep cuts to the defense budget, the Air Force is working to return to FY 2010 staffing levels. The Department of Defense already has told the Air Force to cut $450 billion from its budget in the next decade.
“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, Air Force 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.”
The restructuring will be fully implemented by Oct. 1, 2012
