Claim for Dislocation Allowance

An appeal of a claims settlement involved the following three issues: (1) whether a uniformed services member may be paid a dislocation allowance (DLA) if his dependents move from an overseas duty station without orders and upon a subsequent permanent change of station (PSC) the member is transferred to a permanent station where he is assigned Government quarters; (2) whether a uniformed services member may be reimbursed for the transportation expenses of his dependents who moved from an overseas duty station without orders and without authorization, and the member subsequently transferred on a PSC where his dependents joined him at his new duty station; and (3) whether a uniformed service member stationed overseas may be reimbursed for extraordinary expenses to cover housing costs in excess of the amount authorized for basic allowance for quarters (BAQ). GAO found that the member was not entitled to DLA because DLA is payable to a member with dependents only when the dependents make an authorized move in connection with a change of PSC. In this case, the member's dependents moved 11 months before his official transfer without authorization. The member was not entitled to reimbursement of his dependents' travel expenses because his dependents traveled prior to the issuance of his PSC orders, and their travel was not incident to his PSC. Since the amounts that may be paid for BAQ as well as the overseas station allowances are set by statute and regulation, and there was no authority to pay a member sums in excess of these amounts, the member was not allowed reimbursement for additional expenses incurred in connection with his overseas housing. The prior decision denying these claims was sustained.