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.
Members of the House Armed Services Committee say the AIM-260 Joint Advanced Tactical Missile program has been set back three months due to the ongoing government shutdown. The comment is noteworthy because the JATM's status has been kept tightly under wraps.
