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Local Military Personnel Begin Furloughs This Week

By Pat Loeb

PHILADELPHIA (CBS) - Thousands of civilian employees at Philadelphia-area military installations start a painful routine, this week. For the next three months, they'll be furloughed one day a week, as part of the automatic federal budget cuts known as "the sequester."

Between Fort Dix, the Defense Logistics Agency and Naval Support Activity, nearly 14,000 civilian employees in the region face 11 weeks of furloughs, which amount to a 20 percent pay cut between now and September.

"With a portion of our workforce not in, that's going to affect productivity, obviously," says Bill Addison of Defense Logistics Agency Troop Support.

Addison says that facility is splitting furlough days between Monday and Friday so that there's some staff available every day.

"We're going to manage our priorities and apply our resources, based on the most mission-critical programs, projects and workload. In particular, if you look at the direct support we provide our war fighters in Afghanistan and some other parts of the world -- we're going to make sure that happens without interruption."

Pentagon officials say cuts scheduled to take effect next year could mean twice as many furlough days or even layoffs.

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