[Decision Concerning Air Force Member's Entitlement to Family Separation Allowances]

The Air Force requested a decision regarding a member's entitlement to a family separation allowance. GAO noted that: (1) the member and his wife, who was also an Air Force member, were assigned to separate, unaccompanied, overseas tours; (2) the member's child and his wife's child from a previous marriage lived in a home owned by both members; and (3) the wife was already collecting a family separation allowance for her child. GAO held that the Air Force could not pay the member a family separation allowance because his wife was already collecting such an allowance for the same class of dependent and the dependents resided in the same household. Accordingly, the Air Force may not pay the member a family separation allowance.