Readiness? or cuts? Finding balance across the force

Photo By Timothy Hale | Mr. James Balocki, the U.S. Army Reserve command executive officer, discusses pending personnel cuts with a reporter at the U.S. Army Reserve Command headquarters, Oct. 1, 2014, at Fort Bragg, N.C. (U.S. Army photo by Timothy L. Hale/Released)  

FORT BRAGG, NORTH CAROLINA, UNITED STATES

10.03.2014

Courtesy Story

U.S. Army Reserve Command

FORT BRAGG, N.C. - Editor’s Note: The U.S. Army Reserve Command Double Eagle staff sat down with James Balocki, the Army Reserve command executive officer, to respond to questions about possible personnel reductions and the impact they will have on those identified and mission readiness. Below is the transcript from that conversation.

Mr. Balocki: In my 33 years with the Army, this is the about the third time I have seen something like this. We have always survived as an Army. It’s during these periods of retrenchment that we look introspectively at why we exist and for what purposes the nation needs us, specifically with regard to the Army Reserve. This idea of a lifesaving, life-sustaining force and bringing that concept to life and putting it into operation for the Army and the nation’s leaders, this is really a great time. We need to be able to reflect on that and bring different means and methods in the employment of our force to make that concept a reality. It’s challenging because we are going through difficult times when there is angst among the work force and I feel it too. But it also provides a chance to have a more intellectual dialogue about the purpose of our force and how we employ it.

Double Eagle: Why is it necessary to reduce the civilian workforce and what is the driving factor behind the reductions?

Mr. Balocki: The nation faces difficult choices about spending; among the decisions our elected leaders have made is to reduce spending on the Armed Forces. The active Army will shrink from about 510,000 soldiers now by 60,000 over the next five years. The Army Reserve will shrink from 205,000 soldiers now to 195,000 over the next two years. Similar reductions to our civilian workforce were also required of Army leadership; the Army’s civilian workforce is shrinking as well.

Double Eagle: When will these reductions take place (start/duration/period of time)?

Mr. Balocki: These reductions will begin this fiscal year and be carried out over the next four years. We’ve planned reductions to our Military Technician workforce in the first two years – these actually were put in law with our budget submissions. Our Army Civilian workforce reductions will occur from FY 2017 through FY 2019.

Double Eagle: What is the most important message we (collectively) need to send to those employees in positions being eliminated?

Mr. Balocki: First, we believe every employee is important to our mission and will do all we can to find a place for them in our organization. I’ll be honest though, this may be difficult in some cases. Each situation and every employee’s circumstances are unique, so it’s hard to gauge what might be required of both the Army Reserve and each employee to keep them with us. I hope and expect we’ll be able to keep everyone who wants to stay; while challenging, I believe it is possible.

Double Eagle: Who will be affected by the decision to reduce the workforce?

Mr. Balocki: From my perspective everyone in the Army Reserve is affected. Most certainly those employees whose positions are eliminated will be directly affected; however, employees and soldiers who stand with them as a part of our formations will also be impacted as they decide which functions to continue performing and which we will stop doing, but still ensure we continue to maintain ready units in support of our nation’s defense.

Double Eagle: What pay grades/ranges will be most affected by reductions?

Mr. Balocki: This is hard to gauge. From what I’ve seen, the impacts are spread across our organizations, including those positions we fund for other entities that support us, and across the range of grades throughout our structure. I do want to stress this reduction is associated with shrinking resources and decisions about which functions we’ll either stop performing or undertake in a different manner.

Double Eagle: Where will the largest number of reductions take place and where are they located? (headquarters, mission support commands, units?)

Mr. Balocki: The Army Reserve must reduce 1,000 military technician positions and 410 Army civilians. Most of our military technicians are found in units and in the maintenance and equipment concentration sites; thus, a large number of those cuts will come from there. On the other hand, the Army Civilian positions are found across the command, so, we’ve reduced these positions broadly, but tried to retain them in our formations to the extent we can, to protect the Army Reserve’s ability to generate ready units and soldiers.

Double Eagle: How will the reductions be implemented?

Mr. Balocki: Positions will be reduced in phases. The first two years FY15 and FY16 will see us reduce the military technician positions from nearly 9,000 to just fewer than 8,000 – an 11 percent cut. The next phase, will occur from FY17 through FY19, when we’ll reduce our Army Civilian positions from 3,508 to 3,098, a 12 percent cut.

Double Eagle: Why can’t these reduction goals be managed through normal attrition (retirements, resignations)?

Mr. Balocki: We are; in fact, we expect most of our reductions will be a result of normal attrition, like retirements, and voluntary movements, when an employee takes another position.

Double Eagle: Army Reserve is still advertising civilian positions for fill. Why do this during reductions?

Mr. Balocki: Normal attrition in our military technician population averages about 11 percent to 12 percent per year. This means if we simply stop hiring this year, we’ll have roughly 1,000 new vacancies over the next 12 months. This is more than double the required annual reduction target of 500 positions. So, you see we’ll still need to hire – and we will, because military technicians are so critical to maintaining readiness in our units. For our Army Civilian population average attrition is about five percent per year, so again if we froze hiring this year, we’d expect about 150 new vacancies.

The challenge with managing by attrition is we can end up with an imbalanced workforce. That means we may have a disproportionate number of people with certain skills, or in certain locations and a shortage in others. In some cases vacant positions may be retained, this is because these functions are still needed. This is where the challenge for commanders becomes hard - shaping the workforce to meet known current and unknown future requirements.


Double Eagle: How will VERA (Voluntary Early Retirement Authority)/ VSIP (Voluntary Separation Incentive Payments) be used to manage some reductions?

Mr. Balocki: Given the number of positions that we expect to be vacated through attrition, the use of early retirement and voluntary separation incentives is likely to be targeted to achieve specific objectives, for example to achieve balance in certain skills, as I mentioned earlier. There may also be some instances where we’re unable to achieve the reductions targets we’ve assigned. In these cases again, incentives might be offered.

Double Eagle: What types of assistance will the Army Reserve provide to those personnel in eliminated positions? (Local, state and other federal agencies)

Mr. Balocki: There are a number of tools to provide assistance we can and will offer. Retirement seminars, counseling, the employee assistance program, training assistance, priority placement, working with other Army and Defense agencies, and even working with civilian employers. Our human resources professionals can best explain this wide subject area.

Double Eagle: How will employees in positions being eliminated be counseled in regards to their continued medical coverage, Federal Group Life Insurance, Thrift Savings Plan participation, earned retirement and other benefits be accomplished? When will that take place?

Mr. Balocki: We have begun to schedule retirement seminars; the first of these is planned for Oct. 28 and 29. We’ve scheduled additional sessions in November, January, February and April. We’ll provide the dates so you can publish them.

Double Eagle: Does the possibility of further eliminations through another round of sequestration cuts exist?

Mr. Balocki: It is difficult to predict, in the current political environment, whether or not another round of cuts triggered by the 2011 Budget Control Act, what’s referred to as “sequestration,” will occur. I can’t say one way or another. Although we received some relief from these mandatory cuts in FY 2014 and FY 2015, they continue into 2023 as the law currently stands. So, the Army and Defense Department will continue to face fiscal pressures, plan, and adjust accordingly. I wish there was greater predictability for us all; we live in interesting and challenging times - at least for the present and foreseeable future.

Double Eagle: Where can concerned employees find more information about these reductions?

Mr. Balocki: The leaders in your unit or organization are the first, best source of information as well as the Human Resources professionals. We’ll continue to provide information from both the Civilian Personnel Management Office and the Civilian Personnel Advisory Center to ensure your leaders are informed.

I expect we’ll provide additional information in a range of forms and forums. We’ll hold periodic town halls, in fact, I conducted three just last week, to listen and answer people’s questions. We also plan to share information using a range of print and video tools.

Double Eagle: Do you have any final thoughts you’d like to share?

Mr. Balocki: Every member of the Army Reserve family is important to our team. We will do all we can to find a place for each one in our organization. This will be difficult at times, but I hope we’ll be able to keep all who want to stay.

I recognize this is hard on everyone and I sincerely appreciate the continued loyalty, skill, and dedication of our civilian professionals I see every day in our organization! Thank you!

• Date Taken: 10.03.2014
• Date Posted: 10.03.2014 10:42
• Story ID: 144177
• Location: FORT BRAGG, NORTH CAROLINA, US