The Air Force’s director of force management policy, Brig. Gen. K.C. McClain, says of the service’s implementation of the National Security Personnel System, “We are pleased with our progress and will continue to make adjustments where necessary.” Currently, the Air Force has entered about 39,000 of its 128,000 civilian employees into the new performance-based system. The service plans to shift another increment into NSPS in October, followed by one in March that will include Air National Guard employees. In May, a panel of three US Court of Appeals judges sided with the Pentagon in a case brought by the American Federation of Government Employees union over the labor relations portion of the new system. The union has appealed to the full courts. And, lawmakers seem inclined to side with the union.
Members of the House Armed Services Committee say the AIM-260 Joint Advanced Tactical Missile program has been set back three months due to the ongoing government shutdown. The comment is noteworthy because the JATM's status has been kept tightly under wraps.
