39 Wisconsin Air National Guard positions could be cut



MILWAUKEE (WITI) -- The U.S. Air Force announced the budget plan for fiscal year 2015 that would eliminate 39 Wisconsin Air National Guard positions beginning in October 2014.

If approved by Congress, the Volk Field Combat Readiness Training Center in Camp Douglas, Wis., would eliminate nine full-time positions and 14 drill-status Guard positions under the proposed restructuring plan, while the Milwaukee-based 128th Air Refueling Wing would lose 16 drill-status Guard positions. The total number of Wisconsin Air National Guardsmen would be reduced to 2,261 as a result of this action.

The positions would be eliminated from a variety of career fields.

Maj. Gen. Donald Dunbar, the adjutant general of Wisconsin, hopes to implement the proposed reductions from the Air Force through attrition to lessen the impact on currently serving members of the Wisconsin Air National Guard.

The personnel cuts are a result of the President's Defense Budget for Fiscal Year 2015, which was announced March 4. The Air Force expects to reduce its number of personnel by approximately 20,000 Airmen in 2015. Approximately 400 positions within the Air National Guard would be eliminated across the country in 2015 due to a proposed reduction in the Guard's overall end strength.