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.

Scott AFB affected by second round of civilian restructuring efforts

  • Published
  • By 375th Air Mobility Wing Public Affairs
SCOTT AIR FORCE BASE, Ill. --  Air Force officials announced Jan. 11 the second round of civilian position restructuring efforts to align with fiscal year 2010 funding targets as directed by the Secretary of Defense.

As a result, the total number of positions eliminated at Scott AFB is 351, with 128 of those positions already vacant and marked for deletion. From the previous round, there were 49 employees who left under the voluntary separation incentive pay and voluntary early retirement authority programs. The Air Force is working with the remaining 174 employees for placement as the Air Force continues its second round of VERA/VSIP offerings.

Civilian employees received VERA/VSIP eligibility surveys from their personnel managers earlier this month and the applications are due Jan. 27. Approved applications will result in separations or retirements that take effect by April 30.

Though the eliminated positions meet the Air Force goals, there are still civilians on the payrolls that exceed the funding level directives. As a result, Air Force officials are still evaluating the need for a Reduction in Force.

"We're still doing all we can to provide the best information for people to make decisions about their careers," said Col. Michael Hornitschek, 375th Air Mobility Wing commander. "We're also working to ensure there's as smooth a transition as possible for those affected. There are tough decisions being made, and we're all feeling the effects of it. We're doing all we can to inform and provide the best advice and counsel to our civilian workforce."

The Air Force is required to eliminate 9,000 positions, but also add 5,900 positions against the Air Force's top priorities. For Scott the primary areas marked for elimination were within the communications, civil engineering and from management, staff and support areas.

There are no positions being added to Air Force missions here as a result of this effort, however, several non-Air Force organizations on base, such as U.S. Transportation Command, are not affected by these measures and continue to hire against their mission priorities.

Currently, there are 5,085 civilian authorizations at Scott AFB. The civilian workforce adjustments do not affect any civilian authorizations working for U.S. Transportation Command or civilian employees at the Army's Military Surface Distribution and Deployment command since they are funded through a different source.

Other headquarters agencies not affected include the Defense Information Systems Agency, and the Defense Information Technology Contracting Organization. In addition, these actions do not affect Air Reserve Technicians, which are the dual military/civilian positions for the Reserves.

This announcement marks the end of civilian reductions associated with the Air Force's FY12 civilian workforce restructure.