B-123597, JUL. 8, 1955
Highlights
USN: REFERENCE IS MADE TO YOUR LETTER OF DECEMBER 20. YOUR HOUSEHOLD EFFECTS WERE SHIPPED ON AUGUST 26. YOU WERE DETACHED FROM DUTY AT WASHINGTON. YOUR CLAIM FOR REIMBURSEMENT OF THE COST INCURRED WAS DISALLOWED BY SETTLEMENT DATED DECEMBER 7. THAT YOU WERE ADVISED SHIPMENT COULD NOT BE MADE WITHOUT CHANGE OF STATION ORDERS. SPECIFICALLY PROVIDES THAT HOUSEHOLD GOODS MAY NOT BE SHIPPED AT GOVERNMENT EXPENSE PRIOR TO ISSUANCE OF ORDERS EXCEPT UPON A DETERMINATION BY THE APPROPRIATE AUTHORITY OF THE SERVICE CONCERNED THAT SHIPMENT IN ADVANCE OF ORDERS IS NECESSARY BECAUSE OF EMERGENCY. YOUR CLAIM FOR REIMBURSEMENT WAS DENIED BY THE U.S. IT MUST BE HELD THAT NO RIGHT TO REIMBURSEMENT IS ESTABLISHED UNDER THE APPLICABLE LAW AND REGULATIONS HAVING NO EQUITABLE JURISDICTION.
B-123597, JUL. 8, 1955
TO LIEUTENANT COMMANDER RONALD L. STOKES, USN:
REFERENCE IS MADE TO YOUR LETTER OF DECEMBER 20, 1954, WITH ENCLOSURES, FORWARDED HERE BY THE U.S. NAVY REGIONAL ACCOUNTS OFFICE BY LETTER DATED MARCH 8, 1955, REQUESTING REVIEW OF SETTLEMENT DATED DECEMBER 7, 1954, WHICH DISALLOWED YOUR CLAIM FOR REIMBURSEMENT OF THE COST OF SHIPPING YOUR HOUSEHOLD EFFECTS FROM ALEXANDRIA, VIRGINIA, WITH EXTRA PICKUPS AT ARLINGTON, VIRGINIA, AND WASHINGTON, D.C., TO CATONSVILLE, MARYLAND, ON AUGUST 26, 1954.
YOUR HOUSEHOLD EFFECTS WERE SHIPPED ON AUGUST 26, 1954, AT PERSONAL EXPENSE OF $118.49. SUBSEQUENTLY, BY ORDERS DATED SEPTEMBER 13, 1954, YOU WERE DETACHED FROM DUTY AT WASHINGTON, D.C., AND ASSIGNED TO DUTY AT FORT GEORGE G. MEADE, MARYLAND. YOUR CLAIM FOR REIMBURSEMENT OF THE COST INCURRED WAS DISALLOWED BY SETTLEMENT DATED DECEMBER 7, 1954, BECAUSE THE SHIPMENT PRECEDED THE ORDERS. IN YOUR REQUEST FOR REVIEW OF THAT SETTLEMENT YOU SAY THAT ABOUT AUGUST 20, 1954, YOU REQUESTED THE HOUSEHOLD EFFECTS DIVISION OF THE NAVAL GUN FACTORY TO SHIP YOUR EFFECTS, AND THAT YOU WERE ADVISED SHIPMENT COULD NOT BE MADE WITHOUT CHANGE OF STATION ORDERS. ALSO, YOU SAY THAT PRIOR TO THE SHIPMENT YOU HAD BEEN OFFICIALLY ADVISED THAT YOU WOULD BE ASSIGNED TO DUTY AT FORT GEORGE G. MEADE.
SECTION 303 (C) OF THE CAREER COMPENSATION ACT OF 1949, 63 STAT. 814, PROVIDES THAT, UNDER SUCH CONDITIONS AND LIMITATIONS AS THE SECRETARIES MAY PRESCRIBE, MEMBERS OF THE UNIFORMED SERVICES WHEN ORDERED TO MAKE A PERMANENT CHANGE OF STATION SHALL BE ENTITLED TO TRANSPORTATION OF BAGGAGE AND HOUSEHOLD EFFECTS, OR REIMBURSEMENT FOR THE COST. PARAGRAPH 8014-1, JOINT TRAVEL REGULATIONS, ISSUED PURSUANT TO THAT AUTHORITY, SPECIFICALLY PROVIDES THAT HOUSEHOLD GOODS MAY NOT BE SHIPPED AT GOVERNMENT EXPENSE PRIOR TO ISSUANCE OF ORDERS EXCEPT UPON A DETERMINATION BY THE APPROPRIATE AUTHORITY OF THE SERVICE CONCERNED THAT SHIPMENT IN ADVANCE OF ORDERS IS NECESSARY BECAUSE OF EMERGENCY, EXIGENCY OF THE SERVICE, OR SERVICE NECESSITY. NO SUCH DETERMINATION HAS BEEN FURNISHED IN YOUR CASE. ON THE CONTRARY, YOUR CLAIM FOR REIMBURSEMENT WAS DENIED BY THE U.S. NAVY REGIONAL ACCOUNTS OFFICE BECAUSE THE SHIPMENT PRECEDED THE ORDERS. THESE CIRCUMSTANCES, IT MUST BE HELD THAT NO RIGHT TO REIMBURSEMENT IS ESTABLISHED UNDER THE APPLICABLE LAW AND REGULATIONS HAVING NO EQUITABLE JURISDICTION, WE ARE REQUIRED TO SETTLE CLAIMS ON THE BASIS OF APPLICABLE LAW AND REGULATIONS AND THUS HAVE NO CHOICE, ON THE PRESENT RECORD, OTHER THAN TO SUSTAIN THE DISALLOWANCE OF THE CLAIM.