The Secretary of Defense recently directed a furlough period of up to 11 days through the end of the fiscal year for most of the Department of Defense civilian employees. We are preparing our civilian workforce for this action.

Under the current guidelines, approximately 2,000 appropriated fund employees across Marine Corps Logistics Base Albany and the Marine Corps Logistics Command may be affected, with a percentage of critical service providers directly responsible for preserving life and property, and possibly others, excepted.

The exact list of those exceptions is currently being developed and still subject to approval from higher headquarters. With the furlough program slated to begin no earlier than July 8, we expect to deliver a series of sequential notifications to effectively prepare our civilian employees, help them understand the process going forward and offer them a chance to respond.

These include proposal notices, an employee reply period, followed by decision letters. While it is difficult to accurately predict the overall impact to the installation in the short term, base leaders will continue to prioritize support requirements of our tenants that support the operating forces, in accordance with the Commandant's guidance.

Base and tenant officials will continue to keep our workforce, as well as the Greater Albany area, informed with up-to-date information as we receive it.

Keeping faith with our civilian employees remains a top priority.