'A PAINFUL DECISION' -- Letter to all civilian Airmen from SECAF, CSAF Published May 23, 2013 By Secretary of the Air Force Michael Donley and Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. Mark Welsh III WASHINGTON -- Confronting significant budgetary challenges in response to deep, across-the-board sequestration cuts, the Air Force has taken a variety of painful actions to close our budget gap. We have significantly reduced expenditures on many support contracts, stood down numerous flying squadrons, canceled professional continuing education, and greatly constrained travel. However, those actions don't fully close our budget shortfall, and we regret that we must now begin to implement a civilian furlough. After an extensive review of all options with senior Department of Defense leaders, Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel announced his decision to direct furloughs of up to 11 days for most DOD civilians. None of us are happy to be in this position. Implementing a furlough is an ugly task that will adversely affect our civilian Airmen and the vital missions that they carry out every day. We recognize and regret the hardships this will create for you and your families, but the budget choices that we have faced during this extraordinary year have forced a long series of painful decisions. As you may know, we plan to begin the furlough period on July 8 at the rate of one furlough day per week. While the current plan is to continue these furloughs through the end of the current fiscal year, Secretary Hagel stated his intent to decide later this year whether our budgetary situation permits us to end furloughs early. In the meantime, we will keep working to manage the impacts of these sequestration reductions on our military readiness while also striving to take care of you. You are highly valued and integral to our combat support capabilities. Without a doubt, we could not be the world's greatest Air Force without you. During this challenging time, we are counting on each and every one of you to stay focused on your critical national security missions, and we thank you for your service to our Air Force and our nation.