8,700 DOD Employees Hit The Unemployment Lines

8,700 DOD Employees Hit The Unemployment Lines

Many Thousands More Will Follow



By Dell Hill

President Bill Clinton “cut the size of government” by riffing the military by thousands of active duty personnel, along with base closures in many areas.  His cuts resulted in the extensive use of National Guard and Reserve forces being activated for operations in Iraq and Afghanistan...to the point of several deployments for many.

Today, the military will take it on the chin again.  This time to meet budgetary constraints.

More on this move from The Washington Post:

“The Army said Thursday it is moving forward with plans announced in July to cut about 8,700 positions, using a mix of early retirement offers, buyouts and attrition to trim the jobs by the end of the fiscal year in late September. …

The cuts will come in 37 states at 70 different locations across eight commands and agencies with nearly 90 percent of the cuts taking place within the Installation Management Command, Army Materiel Command and the Training and Doctrine Command. Most of the cuts are likely to occur in Virginia and Texas, where most of the DOD’s civilian workers are located. …

The failure of the bipartisan debt supercommittee means the Pentagon budget could be cut by a total of $1 trillion over the next decade — what defense leaders warn is a “huge” cut that would amount to a 23 percent reduction in the defense budget, resulting in furloughs and layoffs of “many” civilians and a reduction in the size of the military.  Defense Secretary Leon E. Panetta has warned that the cuts could be “devastating” for the Pentagon, creating a “substantial risk” that the country’s defense needs might not be met.”

8,700 is an awful lot of people hitting the unemployment lines, not to mention the thousands more who will follow them directly.  8,700 will pale by comparison.  (Of course, the way they figure unemployment in Washington, probably the rate will go DOWN!)

Remember that civilian police force that President Obama had on his agenda?  You may be seeing it sooner than you think.

Keep your powder dry and watch your top knot.