Civilian furloughs and interruptions in certain services on Fort Hood are set to begin Tuesday after Congressional leaders failed to reach a budget deal before the beginning of the new fiscal year.

Soldiers will continue to work and be paid thanks to a bill passed by Congress on Monday, but many civilian workers on post will be asked to go home when they report to work. Those employees deemed “mission critical” will remain working, but their pay will be delayed until funds are appropriated. Those civilian employees still working will include those preparing soldiers for deployment and those performing life, health and safety functions on post.

Because of the government shutdown, many services on post will cease operations or be considerably scaled back. These include personnel services, build and housing maintenance calls, the commissary, Army Community Services and survivor outreach and relocation services.

Fort Hood officials say the Carl R. Darnall Army Medical Center will sustain current services through the remainder of the week. That means clinics will remain open, appointments already scheduled will be honored and services provided by pharmacies, labs and the surgical and radiology departments will continue through next week. Officials say a continuing lapse in appropriations would mean reassessing medical services provided by the medical center, but key healthcare services will continue to receive support no matter the length of a government shutdown.

Emergency response, security and law enforcement services will not be interrupted, and activities will continue in support of deployments and the execution of orders approved by the Secretary of Defense for the sake of national security.

Other unaffected services include mess halls, physical training, child care services for required readiness and morale, recreation activities and welfare services funded through NAF sources.

More From KUSJ-FM