BANGOR, Maine — The Maine Army National Guard will cut more than 100 positions, mostly part-time, as part of overall staffing reductions called for at the federal level, according to the head of the state’s military forces.
“That 100 reduction is our slice of the pie,” Brig. Gen. Douglas Farnham told members of the Disabled American Veterans of Maine at the organization’s convention Friday. “When the Guard decided to go from 350,000 [Guard members nationwide] to 335,000, everybody had to make cuts.”
In addition to a reduction of 100 part-time personnel, another 20 or so full-time members from the overall ranks will be cut from units all over Maine, according to Farnham, who is adjutant general for the Maine National Guard. He said the cuts won’t involve layoffs.
“It’s all attrition,” he said. “We haven’t laid anybody off. We just haven’t replaced folks” who are leaving or retiring.
Maine currently has around 2,400 Army Guard members, about 500 full time.
The Maine Air National Guard does not face similar cuts, Farnham said, adding that the 101st Air Refueling Wing in Bangor has a very busy schedule for 2016.
Farnham said that the National Guard Bureau in Virginia makes decisions about force structure, and Maine Guard officials use the numbers to create the most responsive force possible.
“We want to keep relevant” for both federal responses, such as overseas deployments and border protection, and local responses, such as natural disasters, he said.
Farnham’s announcement came six months after Brig. Gen. Gerard F. Bolduc, the acting adjutant general for the Maine National Guard, announced that there would be be no changes to the force structure of the Maine Army Guard. Bolduc made the announcement in November after successfully lobbying to prevent the conversion of the the 133rd Engineer Battalion into an infantry unit during discussions last year with the National Guard Bureau.
“None of that 100 reduction had anything to do with the discussion a year ago with the 133rd,” said Farnham, who is from Brewer and in mid-January became leader of the Maine National Guard and commissioner of Defense, Veterans and Emergency Management.
The National Guard Bureau’s command plan was released in late December and includes how Maine and 53 other states and territories and the District of Columbia will be affected by the reductions in force under the Pentagon’s 2016-17 budget.
The numbers for the multi-year budget are not set in stone, Farnham said.
“They’re already talking about raising it back to 350,000,” Farnham said of the reduction in the overall Army Guard numbers. “If it goes back to 350,000, we could get [the eliminated jobs] back.”
The structure of Maine’s Army Guard has been controversial in recent years.
A plan to transform Maine’s 133rd Engineer Battalion into an infantry unit was put forth by former National Guard Adjutant Gen. James D. Campbell and led to him being fired by Gov. Paul LePage in March 2015. Campbell denied that he did anything wrong and said his plan would save Maine Guard jobs, with an estimated 250 on the chopping block at that point.
Bolduc was appointed as acting adjutant general after Campbell was given his walking papers.
Shortly after taking command, Bolduc traveled to the National Guard Bureau in Virginia to undo Campbell’s plan and make the case for leaving the 133rd intact.
When Bolduc announced in November that the 133rd was staying in Maine he said there were “no jobs lost.” Farnham said he believes Bolduc was talking about full-time jobs, which at that point were not listed as in jeopardy.
“The full-time job losses came later,” Farnham said.
Bolduc was in line for the permanent job as head of the Maine Guard but removed himself from consideration in December, a day after Gov. Paul LePage nominated him to fill Campbell’s shoes.
A week later, the governor nominated Farnham.
Despite the reductions, Farnham said the Maine Army Guard is in good shape.
“We think we’re left in a pretty good position,” Farnham said. “We were able to keep that core structure, retain the 133rd, and keep relevant. We’re balanced between having resources for the feds and resources for local responses.”