Sequestration would have immediate and lasting impacts on Florida Guard
Written by Sgt. 1st Class Blair Heusdens // February 22, 2013 // Recent News, Sequestration
ST. AUGUSTINE, Fla. (February 22, 2013) — In the coming weeks, more than 900 Florida National Guard civilian employees – many of them uniformed Guardsmen – could be affected by furloughs triggered by sequestration.
“The bulk of our full-time workforce is civilian,” said Col. Brian Simpler, commander of the Florida Air National Guard’s 125th Fighter Wing, based in Jacksonville, Fla.
These furloughs will have an immediate and lasting impact on the Florida National Guard, not only affecting paychecks, but the Florida National Guard’s readiness to help fight America’s wars and cope with natural disasters.
“Our Adjutant General works very hard every day to make sure our three missions are met – that’s fighting our nations wars, providing response to disasters inside the state of Florida and also our community mission,” said Col. Perry Hagaman, chief of staff for the Florida National Guard. “Sequestration and furloughs will impact every one of those missions; but we work hard every day to make sure those impacts are reduced.”
“There will be a downgrade in our facilities, there will be a downgrade in our training levels, there will be a downgrade in our equipment and most of what we’ll see immediately is in equipment impact, along with personnel impact,” continued Hagaman. “When we furlough 900 employees, we will have an immediate impact to the Florida National Guard.”
The Florida National Guard is working to ensure that support will continue for ongoing federal missions including the air defense support mission the Florida Air National Guard provides to the southeastern United States.
“We expect to be able to support our air defense mission in the short term,” said Simpler. “But over the long term, we will see a degradation with support and being able to perform that mission as we see the budget cuts affect our training and flying hours.”
In addition to making sure Florida’s citizens are still protected, the Florida National Guard is also working to support its employees and their families whose incomes will be negatively impacted by the coming budget cuts.
“We will respond to the local emergencies – the state emergencies – but also to our people,” said Hagaman. “Our employees are our most important asset and we will do everything in our power to make sure they are taken care of during this process.”
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