A proposed Reduction in Force loomed over the commanding general's final town hall event at Fort Jackson.
The April 23 event at the post theater was geared toward civilian employees of the Army Training Center, and dealt almost exclusively with a RIF anticipated to hit Fort Jackson in the near future. The public forum was the latest in a series to field questions from those affected by workforce reductions.
"For a lot of folks, this may be the last opportunity I'll have to talk with you all," said Maj. Gen. Bradley Becker, who will relinquish command of Fort Jackson at the end of May. "And I know the reason you're all here and interested today is to talk about the reductions."
The proposal for how Fort Jackson would address the cuts was submitted to TRADOC a year ago, said Fort Jackson Deputy Chief of Staff Gerald Henderson, but the results are still pending.
"As it stands today, that RIF proposal has not been approved," he said. "It could get approved. … It may not get approved. If it doesn't get approved, that means life just continues."
In 2012, the active component of the Army was 570,000 Soldiers, Becker said. The goal is to reduce that number to 450,000 by 2017.
"There's been a lot of turbulence during the last couple of years, not just here at Fort Jackson but all across the Army," Becker said. Those struggles have involved furloughs, force reductions and uncertainty. Throughout all of those, Becker said, the post's civilian workforce has remained "professional and dedicated."
"I just want to say thanks," he said. "I've really come to appreciate Fort Jackson and what you all do. Without our civilian workforce, we could not produce the Soldiers that we produce."
Becker said workforce reductions weren't expected to put the post's future in immediate peril.
"That is because there's no one else in the Army who can do what we do at the standard that we do it," Becker said. "I don't see anything changing as far as our overarching mission here."
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