[Claim for Reimbursement of Travel and Transportation Expenses]

An authorized certifying officer of the Department of Agriculture requested a decision concerning the entitlement of a former Forest Service employee to reimbursement for travel and relocation expenses. The former employee completed his tour of duty in Alaska in accordance with a Government service agreement he had signed which entitled him and his family to return transportation to his home of record. Before the employee left his position, he was informed that he had been accepted by the Department of the Treasury for a new position located within the contiguous United States. GAO held that the employee was entitled to the costs of travel and transportation, since he relocated before the effective date of the Treasury appointment. Accordingly, the Forest Service should pay the employee's travel and transportation costs, but reimbursement should not exceed the the constructive costs of such expenses to his home of record.