The furlough of Defense Department civilian employees will affect 14,434 workers throughout Air Education and Training Command, announced the command. AETC has 822 employees who will be exempt from furlough based on the work they perform; they include safety, medical, and child development center employees, states the command’s May 15 release. Earlier this month, Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel announced that DOD civilian employees would face up to 11 days of unpaid leave for the period starting on July 8 and running through Sept. 30, the end of the fiscal year. Originally, Pentagon officials thought they’d have to institute up to 22 days of furloughs. The number of furlough hours will not exceed 88 hours, or up to 11 discontinuous work days, states the release. That’d be a 20-percent reduction in pay for those employees over that span. Pentagon officials have said 11 days of furloughs would save an estimated $1.8 billion.
A provision in the fiscal 2025 defense policy bill will require the Defense Department to include the military occupational specialty of service members who die by suicide in its annual report on suicide deaths, though it remains to be seen how much data the department will actually disclose.