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Commentary: Reshaping the force never an easy task

Story ID 03-060
March 13, 2003
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Air Force Space Command News Service

By Gen. Lance Lord

Commander, Air Force Space Command

PETERSON AIR FORCE BASE, Colo. -- Over the next seven years, Air Force Space Command will trim 1,125 manpower positions. That is our share of the more than 13,200 reductions the Air Force must make before the end of the decade. Seven hundred and fifty-six of those cuts will come in the next year, so we are exploring proposals to implement the reductions. We will focus on outsourcing, reprogramming or delaying some manpower positions and eliminating lower-priority workload.

With all the rumors out there, I want to assure everyone in Air Force Space Command that this force reshaping is central to the needs of the Air Force, especially in strengthening sorely stressed career fields such as security forces and intelligence.

The command is taking a mission-oriented approach to the cuts it has been directed to make, rather than arbitrarily assigning reduction numbers to bases. We believe a "fair share" spread of the reduction to the field is counterproductive, so we will take a hard look at each mission area rather than taking a percentage of slots from each unit.

We still have not completely resolved what bases, or career fields, this reduction will come from in AFSPC. Those decisions should be finalized in the next month.

Identified airmen will have the opportunity to retrain while civilians will be eligible for priority placement, voluntary early retirement and voluntary separation incentives. I can't absolutely guarantee that no civilian workers will lose their jobs, but we're doing everything we can to avoid any involuntary separations as a result of this manpower reduction.

Increased operations tempo, workload and security requirements created by the war on terrorism, as well as budget constraints, have prompted the Air Force to review its authorizations to create a workforce better prepared to meet future challenges and missions. Our challenge is to reallocate positions - both military and civilian - to alleviate some of that workforce stress.

Let me assure you that we will do everything possible to trim positions with a minimal effect on current AFSPC employees. We will do this in part by delaying or deleting some positions slated to be filled in the next year, as well as using attrition and current vacancies. We're concerned about the personal issues of this action more than the personnel issues.

Today's challenges have forced the Air Force to make tough decisions. Shaping the workforce to meet the future steady state of the Air Force that has evolved since Sept. 11 is our top priority. We must do this by making sure manpower authorizations do not exceed the funding Congress has given us.

We will work this issue extremely hard to get answers as soon as possible. We are fully committed to keeping the number of people affected as low as possible without negatively impacting the missions of our bases.