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B-148818, JUN. 5, 1962

B-148818 Jun 05, 1962
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IT APPEARS THAT YOU WERE MARRIED ON DECEMBER 31. AT THAT TIME YOU WERE DUE FOR ROTATION TO THE UNITED STATES IN SEPTEMBER 1961. YOUR FOREIGN SERVICE TOUR WAS EXTENDED TO YOUR EXPECTED TERMINATION OF SERVICE DATE. AT THAT TIME YOU APPLIED FOR RECOGNITION OF YOUR WIFE AS AN AUTHORIZED DEPENDENT AND WERE ADVISED YOU WERE NOT ELIGIBLE FOR THE REASON THAT YOU HAD ONLY 11 MONTHS OF SERVICE REMAINING AFTER ACQUISITION OF YOUR DEPENDENT. YOU WERE INVOLUNTARILY EXTENDED ON ACTIVE SERVICE FOR ONE YEAR AND GIVEN A NEW EXPECTED TERMINATION OF SERVICE DATE OF NOVEMBER 20. YOU THEN SUBMITTED AN APPLICATION FOR AN EXTENSION OF YOUR FOREIGN SERVICE TOUR WHICH APPARENTLY WAS APPROVED AND FORWARDED BY YOUR UNIT ON NOVEMBER 20.

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B-148818, JUN. 5, 1962

TO FIRST LIEUTENANT JACK C. REED:

YOUR LETTER OF APRIL 16, 1962, REQUESTS FURTHER CONSIDERATION OF THE SETTLEMENT OF APRIL 9, 1962, WHICH DISALLOWED YOUR CLAIM FOR STATION ALLOWANCE AS A MEMBER WITH A DEPENDENT DURING THE PERIOD DECEMBER 31, 1960, TO NOVEMBER 19, 1961.

IT APPEARS THAT YOU WERE MARRIED ON DECEMBER 31, 1960, WHILE STATIONED IN ALASKA. AT THAT TIME YOU WERE DUE FOR ROTATION TO THE UNITED STATES IN SEPTEMBER 1961. ON FEBRUARY 2, 1961, YOUR FOREIGN SERVICE TOUR WAS EXTENDED TO YOUR EXPECTED TERMINATION OF SERVICE DATE, NOVEMBER 20, 1961. AT THAT TIME YOU APPLIED FOR RECOGNITION OF YOUR WIFE AS AN AUTHORIZED DEPENDENT AND WERE ADVISED YOU WERE NOT ELIGIBLE FOR THE REASON THAT YOU HAD ONLY 11 MONTHS OF SERVICE REMAINING AFTER ACQUISITION OF YOUR DEPENDENT. ON SEPTEMBER 23, 1961, YOU WERE INVOLUNTARILY EXTENDED ON ACTIVE SERVICE FOR ONE YEAR AND GIVEN A NEW EXPECTED TERMINATION OF SERVICE DATE OF NOVEMBER 20, 1962, AND A NEW ROTATION DATE OF MARCH 1962. IN ORDER TO QUALIFY AS A MEMBER WITH AN AUTHORIZED DEPENDENT, YOU THEN SUBMITTED AN APPLICATION FOR AN EXTENSION OF YOUR FOREIGN SERVICE TOUR WHICH APPARENTLY WAS APPROVED AND FORWARDED BY YOUR UNIT ON NOVEMBER 20, 1961. ON JANUARY 16, 1962, YOU WERE NOTIFIED THAT YOUR ROTATION DATE HAD BEEN CHANGED TO NOVEMBER 20, 1962, AND AT THAT SAME TIME WERE ADVISED THAT YOUR WIFE WAS RECOGNIZED AS AN AUTHORIZED DEPENDENT EFFECTIVE NOVEMBER 20, 1961. YOUR STATION ALLOWANCES WERE INCREASED TO THAT PAYABLE TO A MEMBER WITH A DEPENDENT EFFECTIVE NOVEMBER 20, 1961, SINCE EFFECTIVE THAT DATE YOU HAD ONE YEAR OF EXPECTED OVERSEAS SERVICE. THESE ARE THE FACTS SET FORTH IN YOUR CERTIFICATE. YOUR CONTENTION IS THAT THE ALLOWANCES SHOULD HAVE BEEN INCREASED EFFECTIVE DECEMBER 31, 1960, INASMUCH AS YOUR WIFE WAS A RESIDENT OF ALASKA AND NO TRANSPORTATION THERETO WAS INVOLVED.

SECTION 303 (B) OF THE CAREER COMPENSATION ACT OF 1949, AS AMENDED, 37 U.S.C. 253 (B), PROVIDES THAT THE SECRETARIES OF THE UNIFORMED SERVICES MAY AUTHORIZE THE PAYMENT TO MEMBERS OF UNIFORMED SERVICES ON DUTY OUTSIDE THE CONTINENTAL UNITED STATES OR IN ALASKA OF A PER DIEM CONSIDERING ALL ELEMENTS OF COST OF LIVING TO SUCH MEMBERS AND THEIR DEPENDENTS. PARAGRAPH 4300-1 OF THE JOINT TRAVEL REGULATIONS (CHANGE 98, DATED NOVEMBER 1, 1960), PROMULGATED PURSUANT TO THAT PROVISION OF LAW, PROVIDES, INSOFAR AS YOU ARE CONCERNED, THAT A MEMBER WITH DEPENDENTS IS A MEMBER WHOSE DEPENDENTS RESIDE IN THE VICINITY OF HIS DUTY STATIONED OUTSIDE THE UNITED STATES; WHO IS IN AN ELIGIBLE PAY GRADE AS THERE SPECIFIED; AND WHO IS AUTHORIZED TO HAVE HIS DEPENDENTS PRESENT IN THE AREA IN A MILITARY DEPENDENT STATUS. THE ABOVE REGULATIONS WERE SUPPLEMENTED BY CIRCULAR NO. 608-3, HEADQUARTERS UNITED STATES ARMY, ALASKA, DATED OCTOBER 5, 1961, WHICH PRESCRIBES THE POLICY IN REGARD TO ELIGIBILITY FOR COST OF LIVING AND HOUSING ALLOWANCE IN ALASKA. PARAGRAPH 6 PROVIDES THAT A MEMBER WHO HAS UNAUTHORIZED DEPENDENTS RESIDING IN THE COMMAND, OR WHOSE DEPENDENTS JOIN HIM IN AN UNAUTHORIZED STATUS, MAY REQUEST THAT HIS DEPENDENTS BE RECOGNIZED AS AUTHORIZED AFTER CERTAIN CONDITIONS HAVE BEEN MET INCLUDING THE REQUIREMENT THAT THE MEMBER MUST HAVE SUFFICIENT TIME REMAINING IN SERVICE TO COMPLETE A TOUR OF 12 MONTHS AFTER ARRIVAL, OR ACQUISITION, OF DEPENDENTS. THUS INCREASED ALLOWANCES ARE NOT PAYABLE AS FOR A MEMBER WITH A DEPENDENT UNTIL THE DEPENDENT IS RECOGNIZED AS AN AUTHORIZED DEPENDENT RESIDING IN THE COMMAND.

WHILE IN YOUR CASE NO TRAVEL OF DEPENDENTS WAS INVOLVED, YOUR WIFE WAS NOT RECOGNIZED AS AN AUTHORIZED DEPENDENT RESIDING IN THE COMMAND UNTIL AFTER YOUR TOUR OF DUTY HAD BEEN EXTENDED SO THAT YOU HAD 12 MONTHS REMAINING TO SERVE IN ALASKA AFTER THE EFFECTIVE DATE OF RECOGNITION. THIS WAS ACCOMPLISHED WHEN YOUR TOUR OF ACTIVE DUTY WAS INVOLUNTARILY EXTENDED ONE YEAR AND A NEW ROTATION DATE OF NOVEMBER 20, 1962, WAS ESTABLISHED. YOUR WIFE COULD NOT HAVE BEEN PROPERLY RECOGNIZED AS AN AUTHORIZED DEPENDENT IN THE AREA EFFECTIVE ON THE DATE OF YOUR MARRIAGE SINCE YOU THEN HAD ONLY 11 MONTHS TO SERVE AND ONLY 9 MONTHS REMAINING TO SERVE IN ALASKA.

ACCORDINGLY, THE SETTLEMENT OF APRIL 9, 1962, DISALLOWING YOUR CLAIM FOR STATION ALLOWANCE AS A MEMBER WITH A DEPENDENT FOR THE PERIOD DECEMBER 31, 1960, TO NOVEMBER 19, 1961, WAS CORRECT AND IS SUSTAINED.

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