US military braces for full effect of shutdown
The US government shutdown had no drastic effect on the military Tuesday but if it remains in place everything from ship repairs to combat training will be disrupted, officials say. With about half the Pentagon's 800,000 civilian employees placed on unpaid leave, defense officials said the military will soon face a headache trying to make do with less civilian manpower under the shutdown. "There's going to be an impact, but it will take some time to feel the effect," said a senior military officer. The furloughs mean that "real work doesn't get done," said the officer, who spoke on condition of anonymity. Much of the Defense Department's civilian workforce are employed at bases across the country, and the military relies on them to keep equipment running and logistical networks humming. If the shutdown drags on for weeks, planned work at shipyards and aircraft depots will have to be put off, routine administration will be neglected and some units will have to forgo training unless it is directly related to critical operations, officials said.
