[Claim for Mileage Expenses]

A civilian employee of the Department of the Navy appealed a Claims Group settlement which denied his claim for a mileage allowance for travel between his remote residence and his duty station. The employee did not normally report to his duty station, but reported directly to worksites, sometimes traveling from his residence and sometimes from temporary lodging in the vicinity of his duty station and his alternate worksite. Joint Travel Regulations entitle an employee to reimbursement of mileage for the distance traveled between his residence and an alternate duty point, provided that the use of his privately owned vehicle is authorized as advantageous to the Government. However, GAO found that, even though an employee may not have established a permanent residence in the vicinity of his headquarters, he is not entitled to the cost of travel from his distant residence to an alternate work location in the vicinity of his duty station. Travel to his remote residence is a responsibility of the employee not related to his duty station or his alternate duty location. Accordingly, the Claims Group's disallowance of his claim was sustained.