[Query Concerning Subsistence Allowances for New Air Force Enlistees]

GAO was requested for a decision regarding whether a travel per diem allowance or a basic allowance for subsistence is payable to newly enlisted Air Force personnel during periods following completion of their basic training while they are attending their advanced training. GAO found that: (1) travel per diem authorized for service members is payable to a member only when he is away from his designated post of duty; (2) when orders are issued designating the first permanent duty station of a newly enlisted airman who is at a training station taking a preliminary course of instruction, the airman may then be regarded as being away from his designated post of duty and in a travel status; (3) the basic subsistence allowance is not payable to newly enlisted airmen while they are in a travel status undergoing preliminary training and are simultaneously receiving meals without charge at available Government dining halls; and (4) the Secretary of the Air Force has discretionary authority to grant airmen undergoing advanced courses of instruction following basic training the permission to reside with their dependents and to take their meals outside of available Government dining halls, and those airmen would be entitled to a subsistence allowance.