Civilian workers at Joint Base Lewis-McChord are about to face the consequences of sequestration.

About 10,000 of them will stay home or work elsewhere for 11 Fridays this summer.

"It's easy to talk about budget cuts," Col. Chuck Hodges, base commander, said during a news conference early Monday afternoon.

"It's another thing to look someone in the eye and see what the impact of those cuts do to them."

JBLM civilian employees received furlough notification letters on May 30. They will lose one day of work a week from July 12 through the end of September.

Hodges said the furloughs would reduce support to Soldiers, create a financial impact on civilian workers, and have an affect on the local economy.

His anger over the furlough situation surfaced briefly.

"These are the same people who have borne the stress of the war effort for the past 11 years," he said.

"They've stood shoulder-to-shoulder with our Soldiers; they've taken on all the emotional duress; some of them had loved ones deployed.  And now they get a 20 percent pay cut."

While most of the details on how JBLM will adapt to the reductions have been worked out, the idea is to give the furloughed workers a predictable schedule to adapt to their furloughs. 

Hodges said the decisions on how to implement the furloughs were based on utilization.

"As the slowest day of the week, we picked Fridays to close most offices," he continued.

About 63,000 individuals work at JBLM in either a civilian capacity or in uniform, making JBLM Pierce County's largest employer.

Joining Hodges during the news conference were Col. Jeff Philippart, vice wing commander, 62nd Airlift Wing, and Col. Dallas Homas, commander, Madigan Army Medical Center.

The three commanders still hope that Congress averts the furloughs by canceling the mandated federal spending reductions called "sequestration."

"We've talked with our elected officials," Hodges continued, "and they are well aware of our situation."

Due to the reductions, the Pentagon will lose $40 billion this year and $500 billion over the next decade.

Hodges pointed out that JBLM's building repair and renovation budget of $128 million received a $52 million reduction. His operating budget took a $1.2 million cut.

One worry the three commanders pointed out is that already existing budget cuts have left job vacancies unfilled and some highly skilled Defense Department employees seeking jobs outside of the military.

The Madigan Army Medical Center knows something about this.

The medical facility currently employees 3,300 workers, down from 3,500 last year.

While attrition and a hiring freeze have caused the reduction in personnel, the furloughs may lead some of Homas' civilian staff to look for outside job offers.

Homas' mask of professionalism showed a trace of anger, too.

"People are being forced to make very difficult decisions, decisions they don't want to make, decisions they frankly should not have to make," he said.

Some of the services to be disrupted at JBLM this summer are as follows:

• Madigan's emergency room will remain open around the clock, but it will close its operating room, pharmacy and family medical clinics one day a week.  Some patients may be directed to civilian health care providers.  MAMC's behavioral health employees will be exempted, as will employees who work with wounded, injured and ill service members.
• Several of the base's half-dozen fire stations may be closed any day of the week unless the firefighters receive an exemption.
• Civilian mechanics will be furloughed, affecting maintenance of complex equipment like McChord Field's C-17.  "Our readiness almost certainly will decline over time," Philippart said.
• The commissaries will be closed every Monday until the end of September.
• On the brighter side, JBLM's schools will not be affected because they are managed by the Clover Park School District.
• All day care centers will remain open.

Hodges pointed out that JBLM is considering exemptions for firefighters and police officers.

Hodges ended the conference by relating how some people have asked him how they will financially get by until the end of the year.

"What do I tell them? This is not their fault."