Skip to main content

B-146682, MAR. 22, 1962

B-146682 Mar 22, 1962
Jump To:
Skip to Highlights

Highlights

REQUESTS AN EXPLANATION CONCERNING THE RATE AT WHICH PER DIEM ALLOWANCE WAS PAID FOR YOUR TRAVEL IN JAPAN INCIDENT TO YOUR JOURNEY FROM MISAWA AIR BASE. YOU SAY YOU DO NOT UNDERSTAND WHY YOUR PER DIEM ALLOWANCE WAS COMPUTED AT THE RATE OF $6 INSTEAD OF $14 WHILE YOU WERE TRAVELING TO JAPAN. WAS COMPUTED ON A CONSTRUCTIVE BASIS WITH THE PURPOSE OF DETERMINING THE PER DIEM ALLOWABLE FOR TRAVEL ESSENTIAL TO MEETING YOUR PORT OF CALL AT 0830 HOURS AT YOKOHAMA ON MARCH 16. UNDER SUCH AN ARRANGEMENT YOU WOULD HAVE DEPARTED FURAMAKI AT 0647 ON THE 15TH AND ARRIVED AT YOKOHAMA AT APPROXIMATELY 2100 HOURS THE SAME DAY. YOU WERE CONSTRUCTIVELY ABOARD TRAIN AND THEREFORE $6 WAS THE RATE OF PER DIEM ALLOWED WHILE YOU WERE THUS TRAVELING IN JAPAN.

View Decision

B-146682, MAR. 22, 1962

TO MR. GRIFFIN SHURBET:

YOUR LETTER OF MARCH 1, 1962, REQUESTS AN EXPLANATION CONCERNING THE RATE AT WHICH PER DIEM ALLOWANCE WAS PAID FOR YOUR TRAVEL IN JAPAN INCIDENT TO YOUR JOURNEY FROM MISAWA AIR BASE, JAPAN, TO YOUR RESIDENCE AT RICHMOND, CALIFORNIA. SPECIFICALLY, YOU SAY YOU DO NOT UNDERSTAND WHY YOUR PER DIEM ALLOWANCE WAS COMPUTED AT THE RATE OF $6 INSTEAD OF $14 WHILE YOU WERE TRAVELING TO JAPAN.

THE RECORD SHOWS THAT BECAUSE YOU TOOK ANNUAL LEAVE AT THE START OF YOUR TRIP YOUR PER DIEM ALLOWANCE FOR THAT PORTION OF YOUR TRAVEL WHICH EXTENDED FROM MISAWA AIR BASE, JAPAN, TO YOKOHAMA, WAS COMPUTED ON A CONSTRUCTIVE BASIS WITH THE PURPOSE OF DETERMINING THE PER DIEM ALLOWABLE FOR TRAVEL ESSENTIAL TO MEETING YOUR PORT OF CALL AT 0830 HOURS AT YOKOHAMA ON MARCH 16, 1961. UNDER SUCH AN ARRANGEMENT YOU WOULD HAVE DEPARTED FURAMAKI AT 0647 ON THE 15TH AND ARRIVED AT YOKOHAMA AT APPROXIMATELY 2100 HOURS THE SAME DAY. YOU REMAINED OVERNIGHT AND YOUR DEPARTURE AT 0830 HOURS ON MARCH 16 FIXED THE RATE OF PER DIEM AT $14 FOR 3/4 OF A DAY. OTHERWISE, YOU WERE CONSTRUCTIVELY ABOARD TRAIN AND THEREFORE $6 WAS THE RATE OF PER DIEM ALLOWED WHILE YOU WERE THUS TRAVELING IN JAPAN. IN THE CIRCUMSTANCES, THAT RATE ALLOWED IS IN ACCORDANCE WITH THE APPLICABLE REGULATIONS WHICH ARE QUOTED BELOW.

AIR FORCE MANUAL 40-10, CHAPTER 9, PARAGRAPH 20, PROVIDES IN PERTINENT PART:

"20. PER DIEM RATES OUTSIDE THE CONTINENTAL UNITED STATES

"THE PER DIEM RATES ESTABLISHED BY THE BUREAU OF THE BUDGET, UNLESS A LOWER RATE ADMINISTRATIVELY PRESCRIBED FOR A SPECIFIC LOCATION IS APPLICABLE, ARE AUTHORIZED OUTSIDE THE CONTINENTAL UNITED STATES, EXCEPT AS PROVIDED BELOW:

"B. ABOARD AIRCRAFT OR TRAIN. A $6 PER DIEM RATE IS AUTHORIZED DURING A PERIOD OF 6 HOURS OR MORE, INCLUDING STOPOVERS OF LESS THAN 6 HOURS, WHILE TRAVELING FROM ONE LOCALITY TO ANOTHER.'

THE PER DIEM RATE OF $14 SPECIFIED FOR TRAVEL IN JAPAN ON YOUR TRAVEL ORDER IS SUBJECT TO THE ABOVE PROVISION FOR TRAVEL PERFORMED FROM MISAWA AIR BASE--- FURAMAKI RAILROAD STATION--- TO YOKOHAMA DURING WHICH TRAVEL THE RATE OF ONLY $6 IS PRESCRIBED. YOUR STOPOVER IN JAPAN (YOKOHAMA) WAS FOR ONLY 3/4 OF A DAY AND THEREFORE THAT TIME WAS THE EXTENT TO WHICH THE PER DIEM RATE OF $14 IS APPLICABLE. OUR SUPPLEMENTAL SETTLEMENT OF JANUARY 16, 1962, GAVE EFFECT TO THE $14 RATE IN THE COMPUTATION OF YOUR CLAIM FOR ADDITIONAL PER DIEM ALLOWANCE, WHICH WAS APPROVED BECAUSE OF THE CONCLUSION THAT THE STOPOVER IN YOKOHAMA WAS WARRANTED UNDER THE CONSTRUCTIVE CIRCUMSTANCES OBSERVED IN THE CONSIDERATION OF YOUR CLAIM.

WE HAVE CAREFULLY REVIEWED YOUR CLAIM AND IT IS CONCLUDED THAT OUR OFFICE SETTLEMENT OF JULY 21, 1962, WAS CORRECT AND, THEREFORE, THEY MUST BE AND THEY ARE HEREBY SUSTAINED.

GAO Contacts

Office of Public Affairs