Federal cuts would hit 1,000 Ind. Guard members

FORT WAYNE, Ind. (AP) -- Nearly 1,000 Indiana National Guard members would face temporary furloughs if automatic federal spending cuts take effect next month, a guard spokeswoman said.

Unless Congress heads off the cuts set for March 1, some 1,000 Indiana Guard military technicians would lose one day's work, and pay, each week for 22 weeks. That would cost them at least $7 million in wages. The furloughs would start in mid-April and last through September.

"Anytime someone takes a 20 percent cut in their pay, that is some room for concern," said Lt. Col Cathy Van Bree, a spokeswoman for the Indiana National Guard.

Personnel who are classified as military technicians include aircraft maintainers, ground vehicle maintainers and personnel specialists, Van Bree said.

"(The furloughs) definitely will not affect our ability to respond to a state or national emergency," she said. "What (the furloughs) will not affect is our traditional service members."

About 170 full-time personnel at the Air National Guard's base in Fort Wayne would be furloughed, Indiana Air National Guard spokesman Master Sgt. Darin Hubble told the Journal Gazette (http://bit.ly/XAkgWY ). That's more than half of the 122nd Fighter Wing's full-time personnel.

Indiana has the sixth-largest national guard in the country, Van Bree said.

Employees of Indiana's Grissom Air Reserve Base are awaiting news on potential cuts it might face.

"At this point, we have not received any specific information," said Lt. Col. Gary Lockard, spokesman for Grissom. "We do realize that more than likely Department of Defense organizations will be affected in some way."

Defense Secretary Leon Panetta said Wednesday that if the spending cuts kick in he might have to shorten the workweek for the "vast majority" of the Defense Department's 800,000 civilian workers.

Lockard said the Pentagon hasn't given the air reserve base any specific information about furloughs or how the possible spending cuts could affect them. Grissom has 615 civilian employees at the base.
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Information from: The Journal Gazette, http://www.journalgazette.net