Wright-Patt could see furloughs for civilian workers

Created on Friday, 08 February 2013 Written by THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

DAYTON, Ohio (AP) — The commander of the state's largest military base says budget cuts could lead to unpaid furloughs for civilian personnel and a 15-percent cut in operations.

Col. Cassie Barlow, commander of the 88th Air Base Wing headquarters at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base near Dayton, said Thursday that 22-day furloughs for as many as 13,000 civilian employees would be an "absolutely worst-case scenario" of Air Force spending reductions. Civilians make up 60 percent of the workforce at the sprawling base.

The Dayton Daily News reports that furloughs would begin in April.

The unpaid time off and additional cuts could be necessary if Congress and President Barack Obama fail to reach a deal to avert sequestration, or automatic, across-the-board cuts to federal spending set to begin March 1.

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