The Vermont National Guard will be forced to furlough 520 guard members for at least the next seven months, if the federal sequestration budget cuts go into effect on Friday.
That’s the message Adjutant Gen. Thomas Drew delivered Tuesday to the House Committee on General, Housing and Military Affairs. On Friday, Drew will step down from his interim tenure as the state’s top military officer, and Brig. Gen. Steven Cray will take the reins.
The 500-plus guardsmen and -women, who would lose a day of paid work every week but not their benefits, account for more than 10 percent of the Vermont National Guard’s 4,000 troops. The furloughs are part of a $500 billion reduction in federal defense spending over a 10-year period.
The federal government classifies the members of the guard, who would lose work, as civilians, “even though they wear the uniform day to day,” said Drew. Most of these guard members are technicians, as opposed to the active duty soldiers and airmen who would be exempt from such furloughs.
“There’s $5 billion with a ‘B’ in savings in payroll if you furlough civilian employees,” said Drew.
With the sequestration cuts set to stretch out over the next 10 years, Drew said their effect would not be an immediate detriment to the Vermont force.
“It will take a matter of months or years before you noticeably degrade the Vermont National Guard,” he said. “I don’t know if it’s worth the price, but I don’t make that decision.”
When lawmakers asked him about specific ramifications as a result of the sequestration, Drew pleaded ignorance. Federal military commanders have yet to issue direct orders, he said.
“There are no actual figures; there are no orders; there are only suppositions we have to plan on,” he said.
The one thing Drew told the committee the state of Vermont could count on in the next five years is the guard’s response in the case of a natural disaster.
“There’s not a concern if a hurricane or some tornado rolls through, we’ll be here ready to respond,” he said.
But after that, the sequestration cuts could hinder the guard’s ability to function effectively.
“If we continue to constrain these budgets they will not just affect people and payroll, they will affect how we maintain our equipment,” he said. “There is a daily cost to this very expensive equipment … eventually you will see a degraded fleet.”
