WRIGHT-PATTERSON AFB, Ohio -- Last week President Obama announced the new National Defense Strategy saying, "...our military will be leaner, but the world must know - the United States is going to maintain our military superiority with Armed Forces that are agile, flexible and ready for the full range of contingencies and threats." The Air Force and AFMC are embracing this approach, using our resources efficiently to shape our workforce and continue to accomplish our mission.

Today the Air Force announced the anticipated reduction of 4,500 civilian positions. This follows the Nov. 2 Air Force announcement which identified 12,000 of the 16,500 civilian billets that were eliminated to bring the Air Force civilian strength in line with its FY12 President's budget. The Air Force has been working to define the remaining 4,500 positions since the November announcement. These reductions will meet the Secretary of Defense's requirement for the civilian workforce to be maintained at Fiscal Year 2010 levels.

The five-center restructure was one of several initiatives announced in November and accounted for a reduction of 1,051 positions. At the same time, AFMC experienced growth in several areas, ultimately resulting in a net gain of 37 positions AFMC-wide. Today's announcement of the remaining 4,500 Air Force reductions coupled with November's net gain, results in a net reduction of 1,000 positions for AFMC. These reductions are the result of several strategic initiatives to include reducing overhead at every level, consolidating base support activities where feasible, and the AFMC 5-Center restructure.

We are committed to doing all we can to mitigate adverse impacts of these reductions. In addition to other efforts, we are offering a second round of voluntary early retirement authority and voluntary separation incentive pay (VERA/VSIP) programs. Surveys for the second round of VERA/VSIP were released on Monday. Applicants approved for this round will need to separate on or before April 30.

As our nation battles the deficit, defense budget debates will continue, but we will remain flexible and continue to adapt to ensure our Air Force remains the most formidable air, space and cyberspace force in the world.

Thank you again for all you do to support AFMC and the warfighter.