Pentagon planning to cut 6,300 civilians in 2015

The Pentagon plans to reduce the number of its civilian workers from about 755,400 in 2014 to 749,100 in 2015 — a reduction of 6,300 workers, or 1 percent, according to its 2015 defense budget request. 

“The Military Services and Defense Agencies will begin to shape the workforce to reflect the changing post-Afghanistan needs and a declining military force,” said a budget overview released Tuesday. 

{mosads}The need for civilian skills related to the Afghanistan War, such as those supporting depot maintenance, will decrease over time, according to the overview. 

The Army would lose 4,400 civilians, and the Air Force would lose 900 civilians. An additional 3,100 would be cut Defense Department-wide. The Navy and Marine Corps will increase the number of civilians by 2,200. 

“The budget request supports a civilian workforce appropriately sized and shaped to reflect changes to the Department’s reduce force structure,” the overview said. 

Meanwhile, the active duty will go down by 36,700 in 2015, a reduction of about 3 percent.

The Army will lose 20,400 soldiers, the Air Force will lose 11,300 airmen, the Marine Corps would go down about 4,700, and the Navy would lose 300 sailors.