B-125881, FEB. 14, 1956
Highlights
SINCE YOUR CLAIM IS A REITERATION OF THE CLAIM WHICH WAS DISALLOWED BY OUR SETTLEMENT OF FEBRUARY 13. IT WILL BE CONSIDERED AS A REQUEST FOR REVIEW OF THAT SETTLEMENT. THE RECORD SHOWS THAT YOU WERE TRANSFERRED TO THE FLEET RESERVE ON MAY 5. THAT YOU WERE RETAINED ON ACTIVE DUTY AFTER TRANSFER. THAT YOU WERE RELEASED FROM ACTIVE DUTY EFFECTIVE FEBRUARY 13. IT IS DISCLOSED THAT YOUR HOME ADDRESS AT TIME OF ENTRY INTO SERVICE WAS HONOLULU. APPEARS THAT YOUR HOUSEHOLD EFFECTS AT THAT TIME WERE IN OR NEAR INGLEWOOD. IS OUR CONTENTION THAT WHILE YOU GAVE INGLEWOOD AS YOUR HOME YOU WERE NOT CERTAIN THAT YOU WOULD RESIDE THERE. YOU WERE ENTITLED TO SELECT A HOME FOR TRAVEL AND TRANSPORTATION PURPOSES UPON TRANSFER TO THE FLEET RESERVE AND RELEASE FROM ACTIVE DUTY.
B-125881, FEB. 14, 1956
TO MR. ELMO T. WHITTEN:
THE DEPARTMENT OF THE NAVY HAS REFERRED TO US YOUR CLAIM FOR $399.28, REPRESENTING THE COST OF SHIPPING YOUR HOUSEHOLD EFFECTS FROM INGLEWOOD, CALIFORNIA, TO NEW LONDON, CONNECTICUT, IN JULY 1947, FOLLOWING YOUR RELEASE FROM ACTIVE DUTY AS A MEMBER OF THE FLEET RESERVE. SINCE YOUR CLAIM IS A REITERATION OF THE CLAIM WHICH WAS DISALLOWED BY OUR SETTLEMENT OF FEBRUARY 13, 1950, IT WILL BE CONSIDERED AS A REQUEST FOR REVIEW OF THAT SETTLEMENT.
THE RECORD SHOWS THAT YOU WERE TRANSFERRED TO THE FLEET RESERVE ON MAY 5, 1945; THAT YOU WERE RETAINED ON ACTIVE DUTY AFTER TRANSFER; AND THAT YOU WERE RELEASED FROM ACTIVE DUTY EFFECTIVE FEBRUARY 13, 1946, AT SAN PEDRO, CALIFORNIA. IT IS DISCLOSED THAT YOUR HOME ADDRESS AT TIME OF ENTRY INTO SERVICE WAS HONOLULU, TERRITORY OF HAWAII. THE ORDERS RELEASING YOU FROM ACTIVE DUTY CONTAIN THE STATEMENT THAT YOU NOTIFIED THE NAVY DEPARTMENT THAT YOUR PERMANENT HOME AFTER RELEASE WOULD BE INGLEWOOD, CALIFORNIA. APPEARS THAT YOUR HOUSEHOLD EFFECTS AT THAT TIME WERE IN OR NEAR INGLEWOOD, HAVING BEEN SHIPPED FROM SEATTLE, WASHINGTON, TO SAN PEDRO, CALIFORNIA, INCIDENT TO ORDERS TRANSFERRING YOU TO SEA DUTY IN 1945. IS OUR CONTENTION THAT WHILE YOU GAVE INGLEWOOD AS YOUR HOME YOU WERE NOT CERTAIN THAT YOU WOULD RESIDE THERE, AND THAT YOU UNDERSTOOD YOU HAD UNTIL THE TERMINATION OF THE WAR TO SELECT A PERMANENT RESIDENCE.
UNDER DEPARTMENT OF THE NAVY REGULATIONS IN EFFECT AT THE TIME HERE INVOLVED, YOU WERE ENTITLED TO SELECT A HOME FOR TRAVEL AND TRANSPORTATION PURPOSES UPON TRANSFER TO THE FLEET RESERVE AND RELEASE FROM ACTIVE DUTY. SHIPMENT OF YOUR HOUSEHOLD EFFECTS, WITHIN PRESCRIBED WEIGHT ALLOWANCE, WAS AUTHORIZED FROM YOUR LAST STATION OR THE PLACE TO WHICH THE EFFECTS HAD BEEN SHIPPED UPON ASSIGNMENT TO SEA DUTY, TO THE HOME SO SELECTED, PROVIDED THAT THE SHIPMENT BE MADE WITHIN ONE YEAR FROM DATE OF RELEASE FROM ACTIVE DUTY OR TERMINATION OF THE WAR, WHICHEVER WAS LATER. HOWEVER, HAVING ONCE SELECTED A HOME, THE SELECTION BECAME FINAL. NO RIGHT ACCRUED TO SELECT ANOTHER HOME AT A LATER DATE AND TO SHIP YOUR HOUSEHOLD EFFECTS THERETO AT GOVERNMENT EXPENSE. SINCE THE RECORD CLEARLY SHOWS THAT YOU NOTIFIED THE NAVY DEPARTMENT THAT INGLEWOOD, CALIFORNIA, WOULD BE YOUR PERMANENT HOME UPON RELEASE FROM ACTIVE DUTY, THERE IS NO LEGAL BASIS FOR THE ALLOWANCE OF YOUR CLAIM FOR REIMBURSEMENT FOR THE COST OF SHIPPING YOUR HOUSEHOLD EFFECTS FROM THAT PLACE TO ANOTHER CITY. FOR THAT REASON, THE SETTLEMENT OF FEBRUARY 13, 1950, IS SUSTAINED.