Request for Refund of Pay Allowances Collected for Excess Leave Used

A disbursing officer requested a decision as to whether the pay and allowances withheld from a Marine Corps member for excess leave he used beyond what he would accrue in his extended enlistment may be refunded to him when he reextended his enlistment for a term in which he would accrue enough leave to cover the excess. GAO has previously held that a member taking excess leave must have the pay and allowances collected from him, and may not carry over excess leave into a first extension of an enlistment. The nature of the leave would not be changed by a subsequent extending or reextending of an enlistment which would increase the amount of leave normally earned until the end of the enlistment. There is no authority to repay him the withheld pay and allowances.