The First Defense Cuts

From the Post:

The Army said Thursday it is moving forward with plans announced in July to cut about 8,700 positions, using a mix of early retirement offers, buyouts and attrition to trim the jobs by the end of the fiscal year in late September. . . .

The cuts will come in 37 states at 70 different locations across eight commands and agencies with nearly 90 percent of the cuts taking place within the Installation Management Command, Army Materiel Command and the Training and Doctrine Command. Most of the cuts are likely to occur in Virginia and Texas, where most of the DOD’s civilian workers are located.

Meanwhile, the Air Force says it is cutting some civilian employees but hiring additional people "to meet its highest priorities," with a net loss of 7,600 jobs.

The Pentagon has bout 650,000 civilian employees, so taken together this only a cut of 2.5%, but at least it is a cut.