Defense Funding Crisis May Hit Huntsville (Redstone Arsenal: house, layoffs, contractors)

[Reactionary]

This article is consistent with preparations being made at Redstone Arsenal to deal with the DOD funding crisis. IMO, Support Contractors will be cut first, then Prime Contractors, then Government employees. Government offices are probably preparing lists of 'essential personnel' and identifying contracts for 'stop work' orders.

Some U.S. Army civilian employees may get pink slips before Christmas because Defense Department funding hasn't been approved (by Congress - ed.)

A Pink Christmas for Army Employees?

[Keeper]

The contract workers may indeed get the pink slip but having been married to a gov't employee and going through this several times, when congress didn't vote on funding, if it does happen it will be the first time in 40 years that I remember.

[Reactionary]

I've seen Govt employees being 'urged' to take vacation (IIRC last time was 1994?). Preparations were made but the crisis was resolved before the trigger got pulled.

My experiences as a contractor were different and have involved not working and not getting paid.

[Keeper]

No matter who you work for there is nothing worse than not knowing if you are going to have a paycheck.
I remember several times they passed the bill at the last minute right before Christmas. Hopefully they will get their act together and at least pass the pay portion of the bill.

[JustADude]

You can check the "Status of Appropriations Legislation for Fiscal Year 2008" at the following URL:
Status of Appropriations Legislation for Fiscal Year 2008 - THOMAS (Library of Congress)

Looks like continuing resolution and Defense HR3222 are both approved. I thought (probably don't understand the process well enough) that once it was public law that the money was "on the way"?

Just wanted to double check this one. Thanks for any insights.

[Reactionary]

JustADude - the problem is the War Supplemental, without it the DOD has (chosen) to move money around in order to fund the troops in Iraq and Afghanistan.

If Congress passes a Supplemental that the President will sign, crisis averted for a few more months.

[Ajchez]

How quickly would the crisis set in? Would this be doom and gloom for everyone on the defense side of things in Huntsville? I just started working for a DOD contractor, and don't really like the idea of already facing something like this. Could someone cut through the media hype and explain how it would really happen if the funding isn't approved?

[Reactionary]

Ajchez - as a contractor (or for anyone), you should always have several months' worth of expenses saved up. SETA contractors go first. Prime contractors go next. Govt employees go last. Some of it depends on which pot of money pays your salary - DOD is short on OMA funds.

You'll know it's coming if the DOD triggers the notification clause. The linked article says "some contracts require 60-day notification if the layoffs will be longer than 60 days". So the DOD has to inform "some" contractors before Christmas in order to stop work in late FEB. Contracts without the notification clause could get stop worked as early as Christmas. Hohoho.

Govt offices are making preparations to 'furlough' some employees - getting named as an 'essential' employee helps protect you.

Advice to a new DOD contractor -always- discuss the contract environment with your boss (or when interviewing). Find out the details of 'your' contract: period of performance, SOW, funding &c - best to read the contracts yourself and discuss with boss - makes you a more informed and better employee.

Elections matter.

[Charles]

What affects my home town also affects Huntsville.

"But a top Pentagon official said Thursday that the military was anticipating "painful" cuts. "I think every one of the big programs will get some level of attention," said John J. Young, the undersecretary of Defense for acquisitions."

"...the $160-billion effort to modernize the Army are expected to be the biggest targets for cuts. The Army program, known as Future Combat Systems, calls for developing new land vehicles, aircraft and electronic equipment to make troops more agile...."

"...McCain has criticized the Army's Future Combat Systems, ..."

Budget crunch a threat to defense spending, whoever wins White House - Los Angeles Times

http://www.latimes.com/business/la-f...,7234312.story

(Use Bugmenot.com - login with these free web passwords to bypass compulsory registration for logins and passwords for online news sources requiring registration.)

[TimG]

Hey stuff happens, especially to Engineers!

I'm an independent sub-contractor on Redstone and one project I work on is FCS' first major program, which is in the middle of the flight testing phase.

The program manager is an Army Colonel who recently said he is looking at the possibility of a 60% budget cut for 2009. The long pole essentials go first e.g., in my project if you are working on a training or fielding module this will likely be delayed due to funding, if you're working on the essentials of the current phase (in my case flight testing) then you will probably be in the money.

Regards,

Tim