Military

About 13,000 civilian employees at Wright Patterson Air Force Base will be forced to take 11 days of unpaid leave beginning in July.

Col. Cassie Barlow, commander of the 88th Air Base Wing, made that announcement yesterday.

Each of the 13,000 civilian employees will be on one day of furlough per week beginning July 8 until they reach 11 total days. The unpaid leave is the result of automatic defense budget cuts.

Barlow says the development is "good news" because the Department of Defense's 800,000 civilian employees had originally faced 22 days of furlough.

The Dayton Air Show that has to make do without military participation because of federal budget cuts has added a Tuskegee Airmen exhibit and a restored World War II fighter plane.

The Dayton Air Show says a traveling custom-trailer theater with a panoramic screen will be at the June 22-23 show at Dayton International Airport. It will tell the story of the black airmen who overcame many obstacles to become the heroic "Red Tail Squadron" of World War II. They flew in P-51 Mustang planes, and the air show says one will fly at the show.

The commander of Ohio largest military installation says federal budget cuts will force a 40-percent reduction in the budget - but no jobs are expected to be lost.

Col. Cassie B. Barlow, commander of the 88th Air Base Wing at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base near Dayton, says officials will have to "dig deep" to find the cuts.

The Dayton Daily News reports that the base's 13,000 civilian employees are due to receive 14-day furlough notices beginning early next week. Barlow said the unpaid time off work will begin in June.