Special to WorldTribune.com

ABU DHABI — The U.S. Navy presence in Bahrain has been bracing for
cutbacks.

Officials said orders to the Defense Department to slash at least $85
billion would affect the U.S. Navy presence in the Gulf in a policy called
sequestration.

The officials said the Navy’s Fifth Fleet, with headquarters in
Bahrain, was maintaining a hiring freeze and ordering employees to take
leave without pay.

“Civilian employees working at Fifth Fleet may be impacted by U.S.
Defense Department budget cuts as a result of sequestration,” Fifth Fleet
spokesman Commander Jason Salata said.

Officials said the Fifth Fleet plans to order civilian employees to take
unpaid leave throughout much of 2013. They said the directive would also
affect Bahraini employees.

“That impact would be limited to a one-day furlough per week starting in
April and continuing through the end of September,” Salata said.

In February, the Navy, with 3,000 personnel, said it canceled plans to
deploy a second aircraft carrier group in the Gulf amid tension with Iran.
The Navy cited budget cuts amid the policy of sequestration.

The Fifth Fleet said it did not plan to cut staff, including temporary
civilian employees. But officials said the Navy was maintaining a hiring
freeze in line with the Pentagon.

“The civilian employees are not being fired,” Salata said. “They will
still be employed here.”

  Commander Jason Salata, hiring freeze, Pentagon, Sequestration cloud moves over U.S. Navy’s Fifth Fleet in Bahrain