U.S. Army Kwajalein Atoll and Kwajalein Range Services officials briefed RMI government and Kwajalein elected leaders Wednesday in preparation for the impending budget cuts. KRS manages the base for the Army.
USAKA is facing a 13 percent cut to its budget this year, a continuation of several years of cutbacks in spending at the Kwajalein base. But while last year the Army had the option of cutting non-personnel spending to keep worker cuts to a minimum, the coming fiscal year will likely see deep cuts to the Marshallese workforce, according to Army officials.
Base Deputy Director Joe Mosconi said Thursday that the Army is still attempting to reduce the number of layoffs by getting supplemental funding in August or September, so decisions are not yet final. However, if Army attempts to mitigate these cuts are unsuccessful, the Army will be forced to lay off as many as 100-to-120 Marshall Islands workers and 40-to-50 American workers, and reduce from fulltime to part-time up to 100 Marshallese workers. There are presently about 800 Marshall Islands workers at the base, and about 900 Americans.
“We will have job losses, but we will try to mitigate the number,” Moscone said. “Nothing is final yet.”
Moscone said workers who will be laid off or have their hours reduced will get notices starting on August 1. The terminations and other changes will be effective October 1, the start of the new fiscal year.
“We’re extremely distressed at such hard-hitting cuts,” said Kwajalein Sen Tony deBrum. “We understand the U.S. has budget problems, and we will continue to try to find ways to mitigate the very negative impact (these cuts will have) on Ebeye and the Marshall Islands as a whole.”
Foreign Minister John Silk said the cuts are “going to hurt.” In addition to job loss for workers at Kwajalein, the Ministry of Finance estimates the cuts will reduce taxes coming to the Marshall Islands government by $1 million a year, Silk said.
