Fort Bragg Budget Reductions Update

The uncertainty over Sequestration-related reductions of services, and the potential for furloughs, is generating expected and understandable speculation and rumor, that if left unchecked, will cause unwarranted concern for Fort Bragg’s service members, Families, civilian work force and retirees.

“I want to reassure the Fort Bragg community that we have made public every concrete decision that has been made about sequestration-related service reductions. We will not, however, engage in speculation about decisions that have not yet been made,” said Col. Kevin Arata, XVIII Airborne Corps and Fort Bragg spokesman.

As was announced by the Department of Defense spokesman George Little March 21, the decision to furlough civilian employees was delayed by two weeks to allow the Department “to carefully analyze the impact of pending continuing resolution legislation on the department's resources.  We (the Department) have not made any decisions on whether or not the total number of planned furlough days for fiscal 2013 will change as a result of this delay.”

Announcements:

• As of March 27, there are no solid plans for Department of Defense Schools to furlough teachers, according to Dr. Emily Marsh, Fort Bragg School superintendent. Planning for the potential is ongoing and if a decision is made by DoDEA to restrict school days, the decision will be announced as soon as possible.
• The shuttle between the Fort Bragg cantonment area and Linden Oaks will cease April 1.
• The Airborne and Special Operation Museum will reduce its hours of operations beginning on April 1. The Museum’s new hours will be Friday and Saturday, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., and Sunday from noon to 5 p.m.
• Fort Bragg’s Family and Morale, Welfare and Recreation announced March 27 that Cleland Ice Rink will close for the summer from April 27 to Sept. 15, 2013. The rink will reopen September 28 with the Rock the Rink event.  This closure is a business based action and not related to Sequestration, according to Ray Lacey, Director of Fort Bragg FMWR. Cleland Ice Rink was similarly closed during summer months last year due to reduced patronage and revenues as well as to reduce the installation’s utility costs during the warmer summer months.