 Beginning this week, about 85% of Department of Defense civilian employees have been furloughed one day a week through the end of the fiscal year. Petty Officer Joshua Shepard has more on how these cuts will affect you. Thanks, MC2. I'm standing outside of the commissary here at Fort Meade, Maryland, talking to patrons as they go in and out of the commissary about how the furlough closures are going to affect them. I'm joined by retired Army First Sergeant Gloria Carroll. So, Gloria, how are these closures going to affect you and how you do business? Well, I live quite a ways from Fort Meade in Roundestown, Maryland, which is about 20 miles. So for me to have to rearrange my schedule and not have that flexibility to come when I need to come, it's not going to be good. And I think that it would do a disservice to all the retired Navy Army Air Force and Marine Corps, since this is a tri-state area, for them to have to readjust their time to come down here and that this would really put a hardship on those soldiers and airmen and Marines to have to lose one day. Every day that we can get to come here is a better day. So I think it really would do a disservice, not only here, but at all the other furloughs that they're doing here on Fort Meade. Furlough days are expected to continue until the end of the fiscal year. Now, each organization and each base is going to deal with their furlough days in a different way. It's important that you check your installation's guidance on how these furlough days are going to affect you. Back to you, MC2. Furloughs are the result of sequestration, a set of across-the-board defense spending cuts that took effect March 1st of this year. Furloughs are expected to last only through September when normal working and service hours are slated to resume. From the Defense Media Activity, I'm Petty Officer Andrew Johnson.