[Decision Concerning Service Member's Claim for Reimbursement of Expense of Transporting Replacement Household Goods]

The Per Diem, Travel and Transportation Allowance Committee requested a decision concerning whether: (1) a transferred Air Force member was entitled to reimbursement for the cost of shipping replacement household goods after the government lost his original household goods at sea; and (2) it could amend the Joint Federal Travel Regulations to authorize shipment of replacement items of household goods lost or damaged through no fault of the member prior to consummation of the original shipment where the cost would exceed the maximum statutory claim liability. GAO held that: (1) the government could properly pay for the replacement shipment as though it improperly shipped or unavoidably separated the original shipment from the member; and (2) it would not object to the proposed amendment, since separate statutes governed shipment of replacement items and the monetary limit to claims settlement. Accordingly, the claim was allowed.