Efforts underway at Fort Hood to reduce civilian workforce through voluntary programs

By Dave Larsen, III Corps and Fort Hood Public AffairsSeptember 15, 2011

Efforts underway at Fort Hood to reduce civilian workforce through voluntary programs
(Photo Credit: U.S. Army) VIEW ORIGINAL

FORT HOOD, Texas - The Army announced Aug. 4 a reduction in its civilian workforce by more than 8,700 employees no later than Sept. 30, 2012, to meet a projected decrease in funding levels.

"We are in a very challenging fiscal environment and understand the impact these cuts will have on our civilians and their Families," Thomas Lamont, assistant secretary of the Army for Manpower and Reserve Affairs said following the announcement.

At Fort Hood, Deputy Garrison Commander Rod Chisholm said any impact on the garrison's current workforce is not so much the product of a yet-to-be-determined fiscal year 2012 budget, than it is a cut in authorized positions.

Even before the Army announced its reductions in early Aug., Chisholm said Fort Hood leaders met with Installation Management Command in June to determine its future force structure.

"We haven't been provided any final funding levels for next fiscal year," he said, "but, what we have been given is a garrison ceiling for the number of permanent employees we can have."

That ceiling for the garrison command, Chisholm said, will be 1,700 permanent employees by FY 2013, less than a 10-percent reduction from the 1,870 employees the garrison had in June.

He said he's hopeful that the garrison command can reach the 1,700 end state through normal attrition and by employees taking advantage of several programs, like the Voluntary Early Retirement Authority and Voluntary Separation Incentive Payment and reassignment opportunities that managers may offer.

"Apart from any formal reduction in force, there are things we can do to fine-tune our workforce to fit our structure," Chisholm said.

"We want to move forward with those measures now so that we can avoid, or minimize, the impact of any formal reduction in force."

Chisholm said the garrison command has informed its civilian workforce that they are canvassing those interested in, and qualified for, voluntary separation and early retirement programs.

He said garrison directors have been asked to meet with their employees to discuss the new civilian force structure in the coming weeks.

"At the level of the directorates -- and I will be addressing the separate offices -- we want to have mini town halls," Chisholm said, "just to keep employees informed on some of the latest guidance." He said those meetings are being scheduled now, and should be completed throughout the command before Labor Day.

"We want to tell the employees what we know," Chisholm said. "We don't necessarily have all the answers to every question, but we want to keep them informed."

Since June, the installation command has already seen a slight reduction in its workforce.

"We're already seeing some attrition," Chisholm said, noting a drop to 1,840 employees due to normal attrition, since the process began in June. He said despite losing positions, there will be no loss in Family support programs provided by the garrison command. In fact, Chisholm noted, Army Community Service will actually grow slightly under the new civilian force structure.

"No Family support program will fall off due to restructuring," he said.

"Two of the directorates hardest hit by the restructuring of the civilian workforce are the Directorate of Emergency Services and the Directorate of Logistics", Chisholm said, "and as we looked at the restructure, the Garrison Commander recommended to the Fort Hood Senior Commander a plan to use military augmentation to maintain the installation's full operating hours at our Access Control Points and Welcome Center.

The other directorate hardest hit by impending workforce reductions, DOL, is in a unique situation as it is projected to move from IMCOM and fall up under Army Materiel Command by FY 2013. Despite the shift to AMC, DOL is still looking at personnel cuts.

Chisholm said that the DOL Director, Robert Bishop, and the Directorate of Public Works Director, Brian Dosa, have already met with their employees to discuss the road ahead.

"There is uneasiness about the process," Chisholm conceded, "but my expectation is that if you work with management, and you're willing to be flexible, that in the end, we can get to our goal and we can take care of those folks who want to maintain their career and maintain their livelihood as civil servants."

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