Travis cuts non-mission critical expenses Published Jan. 28, 2013 By 1st Lt. Angela Martin 60th Air Mobility Wing Public Affairs TRAVIS AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. -- As part of an Air Force-wide response to help prepare for fiscal year 2013 budget uncertainties, Travis has been directed by senior leadership to follow a force-wide temporary hiring freeze and limit non-mission critical expenses. Non-mission critical expenses include supporting flying missions not directly related to readiness, such as air shows, flyovers and familiarization rides; curtailing or stopping minor purchases such as furniture and information technology upgrades; non-essential temporary duty travel to conferences, staff assistance visits or training seminars; and deferring non-emergency facility sustainment, restoration and modernization efforts. The base must ensure these measures are reversible and recoverable and mitigate any harmful effects on readiness. Col. Dwight Sones, 60th Air Mobility Wing commander, said the wing will do its part to assist the Air Force in these cost-saving efforts. "As stewards of taxpayers' dollars, we've been tightening our expenditures for some time now," he said. "We'll continue to be fiscally responsible by saving money as much as possible without affecting our ability to accomplish our mission." Lt. Col. Christopher Abate, 60th Comptroller Squadron commander, said his squadron is working with fellow commanders to prioritize current spending while providing guidance to curtail those non-mission essential items. "We're working to ensure that everything we spend money on is absolutely mission-critical expenses," he said. "Airmen are urged to seek cost-saving opportunities to cut expenses as much as possible, as well as cut out any spending that won't impede the ability to accomplish the mission." Additionally, a civilian hiring freeze for all non-mission critical positions and releasing non-mission critical temporary employees by March 8 and term employees at the end of the individual term has been put in place. According to John Wolf, 60th Force Support Squadron chief of civilian personnel, there will be vacant positions at Travis that will likely be impacted by the hiring freeze. Temporary and some term positions will expire without new term appointments being filled. "Exceptions can be requested, but are limited to mission-critical positions," he said. "The full effect of the freeze will take some time to figure out, but we're working closely with commanders to identify those critical spots and ensure we have the appropriate manning to fill them." More information will be released as it becomes available.