Fort Benning Attempts to Cope with Furloughs

According to a written statement from the Fort Benning Public Affairs Office, close to 70% of these workers are on “temporary furlough status.”

In other words, they don't work and they don't get paid until further notice.

An audio version of this story.

Retired U.S. Army Major General Ken Leuer is a former Fort Benning Commanding General.  

He believes Washington D.C.'s inability to put together a budget is to blame for this situation.

“I wish I could press a magic button, and the title of the button would be: 'Wake up leadership, let's go.'”

According to Leuer, civilian employees are the backbone of the overall operation.

But, despite the lack of staff, it's business as usual at Fort Benning.

“The bulk of what we do is train soldiers, so we're fortunate in that we're able to continue that mission using contracted employees at this point,” says spokeswoman Monica Manganaro.

Officials say the furloughs at the fort will have a ripple effect throughout the greater Columbus area.

“At a 60 to 70% furlough rate, that would be a total financial impact of $4.1 million dollars a week.  If it should increase, it could go as high as a $6.2 million dollar a week impact on this community,” says Columbus Mayor Teresa Tomlinson.

Officials at the fort admit the longer the shutdown remains in place, the tougher it will be to cope with day-to-day activities.

General Leuer says this is already rough on his family.

His son is among the 2,700 Fort Benning employees forced into furlough.