If the government shuts down Oct. 1 without a spending agreement, active duty service members and a limited number of civilian defense employees would remain on the job but may do so without pay, as Stars and Stripes reported.

The Pentagon has not fully detailed how it would operate without appropriations but issued a limited level of contingency plan guidance on personnel, PCS moves and contracting.

“The department will continue to defend the nation and conduct ongoing military operations. It will continue activities funded with any available budgetary resources that have not lapsed, as well as excepted activities such as those necessary for the safety of human life and the protection of property,” the document states.

Stars and Stripes photo by Robert H. Reid