The Air Force rolled out a series of voluntary force shaping measures on Dec. 11 that will help it reach its goal of cutting about 900 civilian positions and leaving some 7,000 vacancies unfilled in Fiscal 2014, according to a release. Although specific positions have not been identified, civilian force shaping measures will “maximize” use of voluntary early retirement authority, which allows agencies undergoing reshaping to temporarily lower requirements to increase the number of employees eligible for retirement, and voluntary separation incentive pay, states the release. “Over the last couple of years the Air Force has gone through significant civilian pay budget challenges,” said Brig. Gen. Gina Grosso, director of USAF force management policy. “By implementing voluntary programs now we hope to mitigate future involuntary losses to the civilian workforce.” Despite the on-going fiscal constraints, Grosso said the Air Force’s strategy does not include furloughs at this time.
An important U.S. Air Force E-3 Sentry AWACS command and control plane was among the aircraft damaged in a March 27 Iranian missile and drone attack on Prince Sultan Air Base, Saudi Arabia, people familiar with the matter told Air & Space Forces Magazine.