Fort Benning recalls furloughed workers after federal funding resumes

Fort Benning said Tuesday morning that it has recalled all furloughed employees following the passage of a temporary measure by Congress Monday night to continue funding the U.S. government through Feb. 8.

“Fort Benning is resuming all operations in a controlled manner that minimizes disruption to ongoing activities and maximizes opportunities to execute previously scheduled activities,” the U.S. Army Maneuver Center of Excellence said in a statement. “All furloughed employees have been recalled and all Fort Benning services previously limited by furloughed employees will resume today as normal.”

Less than 25 percent of the nearly 4,000 federal civilian workers on the installation received furlough orders Monday afternoon as Republicans and Democrats negotiated an end to the nearly three-day shutdown of the government, said Ben Garrett, the post’s public affairs officer. The infantry and armor training post had also identified certain activities that would be either closed or operating with limited service until the funding resumed.

The Senate passed a temporary funding measure Monday afternoon, followed by the House of Representatives doing so in the early evening. The legislation then was signed by President Donald Trump, which puts government funding in place until Feb. 8 as the political parties attempt to hammer out a permanent agreement to keep the U.S. government and its many obligations and operations running through the rest of this year.

Even as lawmakers on Capitol Hill struggled to compromise on issues such as immigration and children’s health care Monday, Fort Benning officials pledged to “remain open” with limited services to keep the large installation in west-central Georgia training soldiers, which is its core mission.

“Fort Benning has a mission to prepare soldiers and leaders in support of our nation’s defense,” it said Monday in a statement announcing the furloughs of federally funded civilian employees. The post also uses contract civilians for much of its operations. “We will continue with our mission to support our Army. We will move forward with difficulty — without our valued civilian workforce.”

Another critical piece of Fort Benning’s operations also was not impacted during the brief government shutdown, with Martin Army Community Hospital and its various troop and satellite clinics remaining open. The medical activity kept essential employees working to take care of the soldiers, civilians and retirees who use its facilities.

The shutdown drew the ire of the National Federation of Federal Employees, with the organization, in a statement, calling for members of Congress to stop playing “politics as usual” and come up with a permanent funding solution for the balance of fiscal year 2018.

“Shutdowns are always a costly and painful process, but I am happy to see that Congress was able to limit the damage to three days,” Randy Erwin, president of the National Federation of Federal Employees said in a statement. “The business of country and the lives of federal workers and families should always take precedence over politics. Unfortunately, this is seldom the case. Therefore, we continue to endure these ridiculous parlor tricks from Congress when the American people deserve much better from their representatives.”

This story was originally published January 23, 2018 at 8:53 AM with the headline "Fort Benning recalls furloughed workers after federal funding resumes."