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Dayton
Daily News...
Ohio
ranks second in nation in overall
jobs increase
November 6, 2011
WRIGHT-PATTERSON
AIR FORCE BASE —
Ohio’s military facilities will show a net gain of 2 percent in jobs
during the
next two years despite the Air Force’s system-wide reduction of
civilian
employment, according to U.S. Sen. Sherrod Brown, D-Ohio.
Led
by Wright-Patterson Air Force
Base, which expects a net gain of 363 positions in fiscal years 2012
and 2013,
the state ranked second in the nation in the overall number of jobs it
will
gain, Brown spokeswoman Lauren Kulik said Thursday.
She
based that on information the Air
Force shared Wednesday with members of Congress as it unveiled a plan
to
eliminate thousands of civilian jobs nationwide to cut expenses. The
plan
focuses on reducing management layers and centralizing program
administration.
The
Air Force declined on Thursday to
provide any details about the expected losses or gains at military
facilities
in other states. It told Brown’s office that Wright-Patterson will gain
364
positions against a current Air Force civilian work force of 12,728 at
the
base, while an Air Force legal operations field office in Kettering
will lose a
claims agent position out of current civilian employment there of 28.
Whether
bases and states will gain or
lose personnel depends on whether they host programs with skill mixes
that
match the Air Force’s long-term priorities.
Wright-Patterson
will benefit because
of plans for priority hiring in acquisition, intelligence, surveillance
and
reconnaissance specialties. Still, the base will be eliminating jobs in
public
affairs, security forces, civil engineering, the base historian office,
vehicle
support and protocol, officials said.
The
Air Force Materiel Command,
headquartered at Wright-Patterson, expects to lose a total of about
2,100
positions across its nine bases as the command reduces its 12 centers
to five
and the Air Force streamlines base support functions.
The
job cuts are part of an early
round of cost-cutting as Congress presses for reductions in defense and
non-defense spending, requiring the Pentagon to search for
efficiencies. The
Air Force said it is eliminating about 9,000 positions in management,
staff and
support areas nationwide so that it can add 5,900 jobs in the
acquisition,
nuclear weapons, and intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance
areas.
Beyond that net loss of 3,100 jobs, the Air Force said it must identify
an
additional 4,500 civilian positions to be eliminated.
The
Air Force has offered incentives
for early retirement and voluntary departures.
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