B-119111, APR. 2, 1956
Highlights
YOU WERE ORDERED TO ACTIVE DUTY FROM PHILADELPHIA. WHICH CITY WAS RECORDED AS YOUR HOME. YOU WERE RELEASED FROM ASSIGNMENT AND DUTY AT WASHINGTON. YOU WERE PLACED ON THE ARMY OF THE UNITED STATES RETIRED LIST. YOUR CLAIM FOR REIMBURSEMENT FOR THAT SHIPMENT (NOT TO EXCEED THE COST FROM LAST STATION TO HOME) WAS DISALLOWED BY SETTLEMENT DATED JANUARY 4. SUCH ACTION WAS SUSTAINED BY OUR DECISION B-119111. IN THAT DECISION WE ADVISED YOU THAT UNDER THE LAW AND REGULATIONS IN EFFECT ON THE DATE OF YOUR RELEASE FROM ACTIVE DUTY YOU WERE ENTITLED TO SHIPMENT OF HOUSEHOLD EFFECTS FROM YOUR LAST DUTY STATION TO YOUR HOME OF RECORD. SINCE THE EFFECTS WHICH YOU MOVED WERE NOT OWNED BY YOU ON THE EFFECTIVE DATE OF THE ORDERS OF APRIL 8.
B-119111, APR. 2, 1956
TO LIEUTENANT COLONEL ERRETT BISHOP, AUS, RETIRED:
YOUR LETTER OF JANUARY 10, 1956, REQUESTS REVIEW OF THE SETTLEMENT OF JANUARY 5, 1956, WHICH DISALLOWED YOUR CLAIM FOR REIMBURSEMENT OF THE COST OF SHIPPING YOUR HOUSEHOLD EFFECTS FROM PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA, TO WILMINGTON, NORTH CAROLINA, ON APRIL 9, 1953. YOUR REQUEST FOR REVIEW SEEMS TO BE BASED ON YOUR BELIEF THAT OUR CLAIMS DIVISION HAS CONFUSED YOUR CLAIMS AND THEREFORE ARRIVED AT AN IMPROPER CONCLUSION. ALSO, YOU SUGGEST YOUR CLAIM SHOULD BE ALLOWED UNDER A NOTICE YOU RECEIVED FROM THE DEPARTMENT OF THE ARMY CONCERNING SELECTION OF A HOME FOR TRAVEL AND TRANSPORTATION PURPOSES ON OR BEFORE APRIL 27, 1953. AS AN ADDITIONAL BASIS FOR ALLOWANCE YOU SUGGEST THAT PUBLIC LAW 368, 84TH CONGRESS, APPROVED AUGUST 11, 1955, HAS A BEARING ON YOUR CLAIM.
OUR RECORDS SHOW THAT IN FEBRUARY 1942, YOU WERE ORDERED TO ACTIVE DUTY FROM PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA, WHICH CITY WAS RECORDED AS YOUR HOME. ORDERS DATED APRIL 8, 1944, YOU WERE RELEASED FROM ASSIGNMENT AND DUTY AT WASHINGTON, D.C., AND DIRECTED TO PROCEED TO YOUR HOME, PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA, AND REVERT TO AN INACTIVE STATUS EFFECTIVE JUNE 22, 1944. ON JUNE 23, 1944, YOU WERE PLACED ON THE ARMY OF THE UNITED STATES RETIRED LIST. ON JULY 6, 1949, YOU SHIPPED YOUR HOUSEHOLD GOODS FROM SEATTLE, WASHINGTON, TO PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA, AT PERSONAL EXPENSE. YOUR CLAIM FOR REIMBURSEMENT FOR THAT SHIPMENT (NOT TO EXCEED THE COST FROM LAST STATION TO HOME) WAS DISALLOWED BY SETTLEMENT DATED JANUARY 4, 1954. SUCH ACTION WAS SUSTAINED BY OUR DECISION B-119111, DATED APRIL 28, 1954, TO YOU. IN THAT DECISION WE ADVISED YOU THAT UNDER THE LAW AND REGULATIONS IN EFFECT ON THE DATE OF YOUR RELEASE FROM ACTIVE DUTY YOU WERE ENTITLED TO SHIPMENT OF HOUSEHOLD EFFECTS FROM YOUR LAST DUTY STATION TO YOUR HOME OF RECORD, OR BETWEEN OTHER POINTS AT NO GREATER COST. HOWEVER, WE FURTHER STATED THAT IT LONG HAS BEEN HELD THAT ONLY THE HOUSEHOLD EFFECTS OWNED BY AN OFFICER ON THE EFFECTIVE DATE OF ORDERS TO MAKE A PERMANENT CHANGE OF STATION, INCLUDING THE CHANGE FROM LAST STATION TO HOME, MAY BE MOVED AT GOVERNMENT EXPENSE, AND SINCE THE EFFECTS WHICH YOU MOVED WERE NOT OWNED BY YOU ON THE EFFECTIVE DATE OF THE ORDERS OF APRIL 8, 1944, YOU WERE NOT ENTITLED TO REIMBURSEMENT.
ON APRIL 9, 1953, YOU MADE A FURTHER SHIPMENT OF YOUR HOUSEHOLD EFFECTS AT PERSONAL EXPENSE FROM YOUR HOME OF RECORD, PHILADELPHIA, PENNSYLVANIA, TO A HOME OF YOUR SELECTION, WILMINGTON, NORTH CAROLINA. AS TO THIS SHIPMENT, WE ADVISED YOU IN THE DECISION MENTIONED ABOVE THAT SINCE YOU DID NOT OWN THE EFFECTS IN QUESTION ON JUNE 22, 1944, THE EFFECTIVE DATE OF THE ORDERS RELEASING YOU FROM ACTIVE DUTY, THERE IS NO LEGAL BASIS ON WHICH WE COULD ALLOW REIMBURSEMENT FOR THE SHIPMENT TO WILMINGTON EVEN IF A RIGHT TO MAKE SUCH A SHIPMENT WERE ESTABLISHED. WE FURTHER POINTED OUT THAT THE PRINTED NOTICE ISSUED BY THE DEPARTMENT OF THE ARMY IN 1953, DID NOT CREATE A RIGHT TO SHIP HOUSEHOLD EFFECTS AT PUBLIC EXPENSE. IT WAS INTENDED ONLY TO ADVISE RETIRED PERSONNEL WHO WERE IN FACT ENTITLED TO SHIPMENT OF HOUSEHOLD EFFECTS TO A SELECTED HOME (IF SHIPPED WITHIN ONE YEAR AFTER THE TERMINATION OF THE WAR) THAT THE PERIOD WITHIN WHICH SHIPMENT SHOULD BE MADE WOULD EXPIRE ON APRIL 27, 1953.
BY LETTER OF NOVEMBER 9, 1955, YOU REITERATED YOUR CLAIM RELATING TO THE SHIPMENT TO WILMINGTON, AND PLACED RELIANCE ON THE NEWLY ENACTED PUBLIC LAW 368, 84TH CONGRESS, AS AUTHORITY FOR ITS ALLOWANCE. DISPOSITION WAS BY THE SETTLEMENT OF JANUARY 5, 1956, IN WHICH IT WAS STATED THAT PUBLIC LAW 368 DOES NOT PROVIDE A BASIS FOR THE ALLOWANCE OF YOUR CLAIM. APPEARS FROM YOUR PRESENT LETTER, HOWEVER, THAT YOU STILL ARE OF THE IMPRESSION THAT IT MAY BE APPLICABLE.
PUBLIC LAW 368, 84TH CONGRESS, APPROVED AUGUST 11, 1955, AMENDED SECTION 303 (C) OF THE CAREER COMPENSATION ACT OF 1949, 63 STAT. 814, TO PROVIDE THAT, UNDER UNIFORM REGULATIONS PRESCRIBED BY THE SECRETARIES CONCERNED, A MEMBER WHO (1) IS RETIRED FOR PHYSICAL DISABILITY OR PLACED ON THE TEMPORARY DISABILITY RETIRED LIST, OR (2) IS RETIRED WITH PAY FOR ANY OTHER PURPOSE, OR IS DISCHARGED WITH SEVERANCE PAY, ETC., IS ENTITLED TO TRANSPORTATION OF HOUSEHOLD EFFECTS TO THE HOME SELECTED BY HIM. THE ACT FURTHER PROVIDES THAT IT SHALL BE EFFECTIVE FROM APRIL 1, 1951, AND THE REGULATIONS PROMULGATED PURSUANT THERETO (APPENDIX D, JOINT TRAVEL REGULATIONS) SPECIFY THAT THE MEMBERS ELIGIBLE TO CLAIM ADDITIONAL ALLOWANCES THEREUNDER ARE THOSE WHO WERE RETIRED ON OR AFTER APRIL 1, 1951. AS YOU WERE RETIRED LONG BEFORE THAT DATE, THE SAID ACT CLEARLY HAS NO BEARING ON YOUR CLAIM.
SINCE IT SEEMS CLEAR THAT THERE IS NO LEGAL BASIS FOR THE ALLOWANCE OF YOUR CLAIM, THE SETTLEMENT OF JANUARY 5, 1956, IS SUSTAINED.