Dislocation Allowance: Two-Crew Nuclear Submarines

The issue involved was whether a dislocation allowance may be paid to members without dependents of both the on-ship and off-ship crews of a two-crew nuclear submarine when the home port of the vessel is changed. In this case, the members had already been assigned to the vessel prior to the change of home port. Generally, a member who is transferred, and is not assigned to Government quarters, is entitled to a dislocation allowance, but a member assigned to a vessel is not allowed basic or dislocation allowances. However, when an off-ship crew is also assigned to a vessel, a member without dependents who must occupy non-Government quarters for a period of more than 15 days prior to reporting aboard the vessel is entitled to a dislocation allowance even though the submarine is the permanent station for both crews. This is based on the view that Congress did not intend to preclude payment of the allowance when a member is not able to occupy quarters assigned to him and does incur the expense of moving into non-Government quarters. Since the change of home port of the vessel is considered a permanent change of station for crew members, the dislocation allowance was permitted to be paid.