Casey repeats warning of possible civilian worker layoffs in South Korea

[unhappycamper]

Gen. George Casey, chief of staff of the Army, talks Friday afternoon with soldiers in the 6th Battalion, 37th Field Artillery Regiment at Camp Casey in Dongducheon, South Korea.


Casey repeats warning of possible civilian worker layoffs in South Korea
By Teri Weaver and Ashley Rowland, Stars and Stripes
Pacific edition, Sunday, December 16, 2007

CAMP HUMPHREYS, South Korea — The Army’s top officer on Friday repeated the service’s warning that it likely will lay off 100,000 civilian workers soon to make up for budget shortfalls unless Congress passes a war funding bill before its Christmas recess.

“It’s our best guess right now,” Army Chief of Staff Gen. George Casey said Friday after meeting with soldiers at Camp Humphreys in Pyeongtaek to promote a new program aimed at helping Army families cope with the stresses of frequent deployments and war.

When asked what could prevent the layoffs, he said, “It’s hard to say.”

But Casey added that Congress could resolve the problem by passing a war funding bill for 2008. Nine brigades are returning from Iraq and Afghanistan this fall, and losing the civilian workers hurts them, he pointed out.

Casey, who commanded troops in Iraq for nearly three years, took over the Army’s top job in April. While in South Korea on Friday, he visited with soldiers at Camp Humphreys and with the Army’s 2nd Infantry Division near the Demilitarized Zone.


Rest of article at: http://www.stripes.com/article.asp?section=104&article=51008