Update on Military Bases and the hiring Freeze

Just an FYI, the base turn over normally happens every January and August (at least for the Air Force). AAFES, and MWR do hire locals but give a preference to spouses of military members. This of course doesn't include base commanders making policies ahead of time to do what they believe the Generals want. Remember micromanagement IS job 1 for military commanders.

Military.com | 1 Mar 2017 | by Amy Bushatz
Commissary shoppers may see abnormally long lines as the Defense Commissary Agency starts to feel a staffing squeeze as a result of an ongoing federal hiring freeze, officials said.
DeCA officials have increased the hours of part-time employees to fill some staffing gaps. With more than 1,650 vacancies, of which 83 are management positions, and a 20 percent average employee turnover rate, an ongoing hiring freeze could eventually force officials to cut store hours, said Kevin Robinson, a DeCA spokesman.
"If the hiring freeze continues for an extended duration, we may eventually be forced to temporarily cut services or reduce days/hours if staffing problems occur," he said in a statement. "Cutting service or curtailing days/hours of operation will be our last course of action if staffing levels make those options necessary."
At issue is a federal hiring freeze ordered by President Donald Trump in late January. The 90-day freeze, set to expire in late April, affects all Defense Department civilian employees. Although commissary and exchange officials have requested clearance to keep their positions filled and services going, those exemptions have not yet been granted.
Army and Air Force Exchange Service officials said they have been forced to reduce hours at some operations at Joint Base Lewis-McChord, Washington; Luke Air Force Base, Arizona; Davis-Monthan AFB, Arizona; Holloman AFB, New Mexico; and Fort Bliss, Texas.
Some Marine Corps Community Services programs at Camp Lejeune and Marine Corps Air Station New River, North Carolina, including several marts, have had to reduce hours or close, officials there announced Feb. 24.
Officials with the Navy Exchange said they are not currently experiencing cuts or hour reductions.
Military child care services have also been impacted. Officials at Lejeune and Fort Knox, Kentucky, have shuttered hourly services, among other reductions. Officials at U.S. Army Garrison Wiesbaden, Germany, have ended their part-time programs, and Naval Air Station Lemoore, California, is planning to reduce hours starting later this month if hires are not made.
While child care hires are exempted from the freeze, base officials are still required to get clearance to fill the positions and the hiring process can be lengthy due to required background checks.
Officials with the DoD Education Activity, which runs schools on military bases worldwide, did not respond by deadline to requests for comment.
-- Amy Bushatz can be reached at [email protected].
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As of March 1st, no exemptions have been granted, although provisions are being put in place so that the family pools and rec programs should be unaffected. It takes sixty to 90 days to normally vet a temp worker so if the hiring process doesn't start soon, summer workers may not get hired until August.

Folks need to understand, Republicans and Democrats, that we spend too much money. Spending needs to be cut. Pick your poison, because every cut can be argued against, but someone has to make the tough decisions.

I don't know enough about the differences between the Federal government and Indiana government, but 12 years ago, Governor Mitch Daniels had the clout, with the House and Senate of course, to push a major spending cut. He proposed a cut to everything except education, and then and told the congress that if they could agree to move money from here to there that was fine. If they couldn't agree, the across the board cuts stood. They cut some deals.

It was a massive victory for the future of Indiana, because no government can run a deficit forever. I would love to see this happen in Washington. If they only way to get such an agreement done is to cut the military spending also, then cut military spending. The alternative is not being able to afford any military down the road, so "Let's Make a Deal".

Looks like more communication problems are causing unnecessary grief. That commissaries are even in the discussion makes no sense. While they are located on military installations, they are self-funding in that they make enough profit to cover the salaries of their employees. They don't operate at a loss, just a lower profit margin than typical civilian businesses.

Several years ago, Democrats and Republicans agreed to the Sequester. If they couldn't agree
on cuts, their would be automatic cuts to both military and social programs. They couldn't agree, and the cuts were made. Now, Republicans want to break their side of the bargain and pour money into the military, at the cost of even more social programs. How does one negotiate with a party who can't honor a written contract?

More importantly, how do you entrust the budget with people who cant do honest math? Billion dollar increases in the military are paid for by cutting the national endowment for the Arts...and PBS. The wonders of dynamic scoring

Operating at a loss isn't the issue, staffing is. With attrition and turnover, they are struggling to keep the doors open. As the article states, there are numerous vacancies including some in management. The hiring freeze also prevents promotion so if an assistant manager leaves, they can't replace them.

Both sides have been full of shit for years. I've said many times that Bush signed off on far too much spending. Something needs to go and social programs are the biggest monster. Facts are facts. And PJ, you really shouldn't talk about lying after Obamacare.

"Billion dollar increases in the military are paid for by cutting the national endowment for the Arts...and PBS. The wonders of dynamic scoring"

pj is always praising "dynamic scoring", now he doesn't like it. The constitution requires the govt to protect the people, not a tv network. With the thousands of media outlets, there is no longer a need for the govt to support a network or a arts program.