Five civilian positions eliminated at Vance

  • Published
  • By Staff Sgt. James Bolinger
  • 71st Flying Training Wing Public Affairs
VANCE AIR FORCE BASE, Okla. --  Five civilian positions have been or will be eliminated from the 71st Flying Training Wing at Vance Air Force Base following manpower and budget cuts directed by Air Force leadership.

There are no contract positions at Vance affected by these cuts.

"The people who are filling the positions the 71st FTW will be eliminating, have been notified that their positions are going away," said Col. Russ Mack, the 71st FTW commander.

"However, a loss of positions doesn't necessarily mean these people will lose their jobs," Mack said. "Wing and squadron leadership are working to relocate affected Team Vance members into other vacant positions which they are qualified to fill. The civilian work force at Vance is a valuable asset, needed to keep our aircraft flying and our pilot training mission on track."

According to the Air Force news release, available on the Vance Website, the cuts are in line with the Secretary of Defense direction to stop civilian growth above fiscal year 2010 levels and the need to add 5,900 positions against the Air Force's top priorities. The Air Force eliminated approximately 9,000 positions.

Upon receiving the Secretary of Defense's memo directing that civilian manpower costs stay within fiscal 2010 levels, the Air Force began a comprehensive strategic review of the entire Air Force civilian workforce to determine whether or not civilian authorizations were in the right places to meet mission priorities.

The strategic review revealed several imbalances. Some high priority areas needed to grow, while some management and overhead functions needed streamlining. These imbalances led to a variety of initiatives focused on realigning scarce manpower resources with the most critical missions.

In particular, the Air Force will grow by approximately 5,900 positions in acquisition, the nuclear enterprise, and intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance and other key areas while reducing approximately 9,000 positions in management, staff, and support areas.

"We can't be successful without our talented and experienced civilian workforce," said Michael B. Donley, Secretary of the Air Force. "We are making difficult choices about how to deliberately restructure and posture the force and will continue to look for new ways of accomplishing the mission," said Donley. "We can't afford business as usual."

"The initiatives announced Nov. 2 represent the next step toward that goal, but there is more work to be done," said Brig. Gen. Gina Grosso, Director of Manpower, Organization, and Resources. "The Air Force remains over fiscal year 2010 manpower levels and will continue to develop enterprise-wide solutions to achieve our goals with minimal impact to mission. The Air Force must still define an additional 4,500 civilian positions for reduction."