Civilian Department of Defense workers will take six furlough days instead of 11, Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel announced Tuesday.

The department asked permission from Congress in May to move funds from its acquisition accounts into day-to-day operating accounts, and Congress approved most of the request in late July. The department has saved in other areas. For instance, the cost to transport equipment out of Afghanistan has not been as high as expected, Hagel said in a statement.

The automatic spending cuts known as sequestration require that the Pentagon make $37 billion in cuts by the end of the fiscal year next month.

“While we are still depending on furlough savings, we will be able to make up our budgetary shortfall in this fiscal year with fewer furlough days than initially announced,” he said. “This has been one of the most volatile and uncertain budget cycles the Department of Defense has ever experienced. Our fiscal planning has been conducted under a cloud of uncertainty with the imposition of sequestration and changing rules as Congress made adjustments to our spending authorities.”

About 1,300 DOD civilian employees work at the Naval Submarine Base in Groton, and 750 of them were furloughed for one day each week beginning July 8. More than 600 military technicians who work for the Connecticut National Guard were also scheduled to be furloughed for one day each week from July 8 until the end of the fiscal year, including nearly 100 technicians at the 1109th Theater Aviation Sustainment Maintenance Group in Groton.

Initial plans called for up to 22 unpaid furlough days for civilian employees.

Tuesday’s news, U.S. Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., said, is “great not only for these hard-working Defense Department employees but also for our national security.

“Military readiness is well-served by technicians like the employees at Groton, who repair helicopters, being on the job and working to keep those helicopters flying,” he said.

Blumenthal said he was hopeful furloughs could be avoided in the future because they are “shortsighted and unwise.”

U.S. Rep. Joe Courtney, D-2nd District, said House Speaker John Boehner should cancel the recess and immediately complete work on a budget, “which turns off sequester once and for all and reduces the federal budget deficit in a reasonable and thoughtful way.

“This announcement does not end the harm sequester is inflicting on DOD employees and their vital missions, and on critical domestic services such as Head Start and (the National Institutes of Health), among many others,” he said.

If Congress does not act, the Budget Control Act requires that the Pentagon cut an additional $52 billion in fiscal 2014. Hagel said he will do everything possible to avoid more furloughs.

j.mcdermott@theday.com