Air Force personnel officials last week instituted hiring controls to reduce projected growth of the civilian workforce and maintain civilian manning at Fiscal 2010 levels. Effective immediately, the Air Force will hire one person for every two new vacancies in areas affected by the controls, they said. This effort is part of the Pentagon-wide efficiency initiatives to shed overhead and cut costs. “As our nation and the Air Force face significant budgetary challenges, tools such as hiring controls help us manage hiring and posture ourselves for the future,” said Paige Hinkle-Bowles, deputy director of force management policy on the Air Staff. The hiring controls will also help enable a more focused approach to bringing on civilians in higher priority areas such as the nuclear enterprise, acquisition, and test and evaluation, said the officials. (SAF/PA release)
The top Air Force commander on on the Japanese island of Okinawa has clamped down alcohol and issued a curfew for junior enlisted Airmen and Guardians at Kadena Air Base for the next month. The order came roughly two weeks after a U.S. Marine was arrested for allegedly robbing and…