Hurlburt DOD civilians return to work Monday Published Oct. 6, 2013 1st Special Operations Wing Public Affairs HURLBURT FIELD, Fla. -- A majority of Hurlburt Field's Department of Defense civilians will return to work Monday, Oct. 7 after being furloughed due to the government shutdown. Hurlburt had to furlough around 1,200 civilian employees, which equated to about 15% of the base's overall force. "It is great news; we have been authorized to return all of our furloughed employees back to work. It will be great to get back to fighting with our full team again," said Col. William West, 1st Special Operations Wing commander. According to an announcement made Saturday, Oct. 5, the Secretary of Defense directed the Military Departments and other DOD components to move expeditiously to identify all employees whose activities fall under certain categories. He expects them to be able to significantly reduce - but not eliminate - civilian furloughs under this process. For more information visit http://www.af.mil/AboutUs/GovernmentShutdown.aspx and for the entire announcement from the SecDEF visit http://www.hurlburt.af.mil/news/story.asp?id=123365991.