ALEXANDRIA, VA (USTCNS) --- When a government or military organization streamlines and reduces the numbers of its employees, the process can be done orderly and with a minimum impact on affected employees.

The Military Traffic Management Command, in Alexandria, Va., is a good example of the process at work. In the past three years, over 500 employee spaces, about 13 percent of our work force, have been eliminated. Yet, among these hundreds of employees, only two were adversely impacted by the reduction in jobs. In each case, the employees turned down an opportunity to work in a different MTMC location. The prime mission of the command's employees is managing and directing the surface movements transportation by land and water for Department of Defense cargoes around the world.

While considerable change has taken place within MTMC in recent years, impacted employees have benefited from a tremendous organizational support structure in both form and spirit. Done correctly, a structural reorganization can achieve efficiencies and still take care of people. Employees affected by the reorganization initiatives were retrained for other jobs, accepted other employment, or qualified for retirement.

"MTMC explored every avenue available to take care of its affected employees to include an aggressive retraining program for placement into transportation related fields," said Virginia King, Deputy Chief of Staff of Personnel & Logistics. "By June 30, 2003, we will have completed the streamlining and eliminated the final l00 positions, most of which are already vacant."

The strong support MTMC employees received in the earlier reorganizations will continue in the latest transition, according to King, which resulted from the creation of a single, global MTMC Operations Center at Fort Eustis, Va., on Nov. 7, 2001.

"The command announced the streamlining early in order to offer employees the maximum opportunity to make necessary decisions," said King. "Open communication between management and the employees has been critical to the streamlining success. We have presented numerous briefings explaining the process and have addressed individual employee questions and concerns."

MTMC employees have been given the option to volunteer for duty at Fort Eustis as part of the streamlining process. On a case-by-case basis, MTMC provides priority consideration to employees affected by the streamlining. In addition, MTMC will pay relocation costs for employees who opt for a transfer. To help provide timely information to affected employees, a number of web sites are being used to disseminate information on career selections and work benefits.

There are four major programs that offer support to affected employees: Priority Placement System, Voluntary Separation Incentive Pay, Voluntary Early Retirement Authority and, if applicable, retraining.

• The Priority Placement Program provides mandatory placement of displaced workers to a vacant Department of Defense job, at their same pay grade or lower, for which an employee is fully qualified. This registration can be offered one year in advance of any adverse action and remains active for up to one year from an employee's separation.

• Voluntary Separation Incentive Pay has been offered at Alexandria, Fort Eustis and some Rail Fleet locations, to reduce involuntary separations. So far, 26 employees have been approved for the program. In the earlier reorganizations, MTMC approved 20 employees for this program.

• Voluntary Early Retirement Authority is an additional management tool that may be offered in this reorganization.

• Retraining has, in some cases, allowed impacted workers to be reassigned to other vacant positions as their work skills allow.

"It is important that employees keep informed as to the programs available to them," said Cathy Cherney, Personnel Management Specialist. "This includes maintaining an accurate and updated resume. Employees can look online for assistance with resume development at www.cpol.army.mil and link into the Army’s Resume Builder.

“It is a partnership. We are here to assist our employees with these programs. If employees work with us, we can assist them in a successful transition to new employment opportunities.”