Army Reserve Staff Sgt. Catherine Threat watches students as they arrive at Courtenay Elementary Language Arts Center in Chicago in this Oct. 7, 2013 file photo taken in Chicago. (AP Photo/M. Spencer Green, File) by Russ BynumAssociated Press They're experienced research engineers and park rangers still in college, attorneys who enforce environmental regulations and former soldiers who took civilian jobs with the military after coming home from war. And all of them have one thing in common: They were sent home on unpaid furlough last week after a political standoff between the president and Congress forced a partial shutdown of the federal government. More than 800,000 federal workers were affected at first, though the Pentagon has since recalled most of its idled 350,000 employees.
