US NAVY flyelever på bakken

Contractor Furloughs Ground Student Pilots

CORPUS CHRISTI - Civilian employees at Naval Air Station Corpus Christi are back at work today, but contractors are not.

This weekend, Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel ordered that all civilian employees head back to work. He based his decision on a Pentagon interpretation of the Pay Our Military Act passed shortly before the government shutdown began.

The law doesn't cover contractors who work for military bases. L-3 Vertex stopped work at the base on friday. BAE Systems will stop work by 11 p.m. tonight.

Meanwhile, student pilots at NAS Kingsville are not flying because of the shutdown. Since L-3 Vertex stopped work no one is on hand to perform safety checks on aircrafts, as well as fix and re-fuel them.

Without that job being done, the pilots are stuck on the ground.