. 

AIR FORCE BOARD FOR CORRECTION OF MILITARY RECO 

RECORD OF PROCEEDINGS 

IN THE MATTER OF: 

DOCKET NUMBER:  97-00999 
COUNSEL :  NONE 
HEARING DESIRED:  NO 

- 

APPLICANT REQUESTS THAT: 
He be reimbursed $271.00 for the cost of an airline ticket that 
he purchased 65 days prior to the issuance of his travel orders 
from a Commercial Travel Office  (CTO) not under contract to the 
Federal Government. 

APPLICANT CONTENDS THAT: 
He  purchased  an  airline  ticket  in  accordance  with  all 
expressed/implied regulations, but was denied reimbursement based 
on  new  rules  published  after  he  had  already  purchased  his 
tickets. 
In  support  of  his  appeal,  the  applicant  provided  a  personal 
statement, AFITI  36-101  and  JFTR  extracts, his  application  for 
active duty training  (ADT) , and other documents associated with 
the matter under review. 
Applicant's  complete submission is at Exhibit A. 

STATEMENT OF FACTS: 
Applicant was appointed a  second lieutenant, Reserve of  the Air 
Force, Medical Service Corps  (MSC), on 4 February 95. 
The relevant facts pertaining to this application are contained 
in  the  letter  prepared  by  the  appropriate  office  of  the  Air 
Force.  Accordingly, there  is no need  to  recite these facts in 
this Record of Proceedings. 

AIR FORCE EVALUATION: 
The  Directorate of  Customer Assistance,  ARPC/DR,  reviewed  this 
application and  recommended denial.  According  to  DR,  prior  to 
May  96,  travel  orders  were  issued  that  did  not  specify  any 
requirements  for  the  purchasing  of  airline  tickets,  and 

consequently  Dobbins  ARB  reimbursed  members  after  they  filed 
their  travel  vouchers.  Dobbins ARB  was  made  aware  that  their 
voucher  processing  was  not  in  accordance  with  a  Joint  Federal 
Travel  Regulation  (JFTR)  rule,  and  immediately  changed  their 
payment  processing  to adhere to the rule.  This  rule,  found  in 
Vol  1,  para  U312O-A  of  the  JFTR  specifies  that  when  a  member 
purchases  transportation  from  a  CTO  not  under  contracLto the 
Government,  reimbursement  is  not  authorized  unless  it  can  be 
demonstrated that the member had no alternative. 
DR  indicated  that  HQ  ARPC  was  not  aware  of  this  change  to 
was  denied  payment  by  the 
procedure  until  the  fir 
.  HQ ARPC then alerted the 
Reserve Travel Office at 
field  about  the  change,  and  on  1  May  96,  started  placing  a 
statement  in  the  Remarks  Section  of  travel  orders  alertina 
they must 
members that in order to be reimbursed by 
purchase their tickets from a Government C 
DR noted that the applicant is a Health  Professions Scholarship 
Program  (HPSP) student  who  performed  duty  at  Travis  AFB  from 
6 Oct 96 through 19 Nov 96.  His AF Form 1289, Request for Active 
Duty  T.raining, was  signed  on  14  Apr  96,  and  forwarded  to 
HQ ARPC/DRO  sometime  after  20  Aug  96. 
He  purchased  his 
nonrefundable airline ticket on 24 Jul 96, and his Reserve Order 
(RO) JA-25898 was issued on 26 Sep 96, 65 days after he purchased 
his  airline ticket.  He purchased  his  ticket  from a  source not 
under contract to the Federal Government, and he contends he was 
not  informed of  any procurement  restriction until  after he  had 
purchased the ticket. 
DR  indicated  that,  on  22  Jul  96,  HQ  ARPC/DRO  transmitted  a 
message  to  all  program  managers  and  BIMAAs  advising  them  that 
members using other than approved CTOs would  not be  reimbursed, 
even  if  there  was  a  documented  savings . t o  the  Individual 
Mobilization Augmentee program. 

According to DR, HQ ARPC does not support or encourage Reservists 
to purchase their tickets months before orders are issued and/or 
before  they  receive  their  orders  as  the  applicant  did.  Tour 
dates  may  change,  tours may  be  canceled,  or  other  changes may 
occur that could negate the need for  the  ticket. 
If  the 
applicant had purchased his airline ticket after the issuance of 
his  orders,  he  would  have  read  the  statement  on  his  orders 
directing him to purchase his ticket from a Government contracted 
CTO,  and  he  would  have  been  informed  of  the  procurement 
restriction prior to purchasing his ticket. 
A  complete copy of the DR evaluation is at Exhibit C. 

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AFBCMR  97-00999 

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APPLICANT'S REVIEW OF AIR FORCE EVALUATION: 

In his response, the applicant indicated that was told prior to 
his ADT that the orders for his active duty tour would likely be 
completed approximately two weeks prior  to  the beginning  of  my 
ADT.  However, he contends that in order to procure his own air 
passage  as  he  understood  to  be  his  right  by  all  previous 
correspondence, he could not wait for these orders to be sent to 
him  if  he  was  to  be  certain  he  was  able  to  fly  on  the  most 
convenient days  and  for the most  reasonable price.  It  is  for 
that reason that he purchased his tickets early. 
This, however, may  be  a  moot  point,  since his  orders  were  not 
sent to him on time for his departure to his ADT, and Travis AFB 
personnel  instead had  to  fax a  copy  of  his  orders  to him  just 
days prior to his ADT.  This was the first time he  received any 
communication  stating  that  he  must  procure  his  travel  through 
SATO,  and  was  well  after  he  could make  any  changes  in  travel 
plans. 
Regarding  the  statement  in  the  advisory  that  HQ  ARPC/DRO 
transmitted a message to all program managers and BIMMAs advising 
that no  CTOs would  be  reimbursed, however he  was  not  contacted 
with this correction and no other communications to this effect 
were sent out until it was too late. 
The  advisory  mentioned  an  excerpt  from  the  AFHPS/FAP  handout 
which  states  "you must  purchase  airline  tickets  from  military 
SATO or  directly  from  the  airline".  He  believe  if  the  date  is 
checked on which the issue was distributed you will find this to 
be  well  after  his  ADT  was  approved  and  well  after  he  had 
purchased his tickets. 
Applicant  indicated  that  he  had  no  knowledge  of  HQ  ARPC 
discouraging  reservists  from  purchasing  their  tickets  months 
before  orders are  issued.  Although  orders were  not  signed, he 
was  approved  for  the  ADT  before  he  procured  his  tickets  and 
wanted  to  secure air travel well  in advance to assure the best 
price and greatest convenience.  Therefore, he feels that it was 
reasonable to purchase  the airline tickets  at  the time  he  did. 
In any event, the orders were not mailed to him in time to inform 
him  of  the  change  in  rules  (he believes  his  wife  received  the 
original copies sent to his home later during his first week  of 
ADT).  Instead, he  had  to directly  request  that  a  copy  of  his 
orders be  faxed  to  him.  This was  clearly too  late to wait  to 
make air travel plans, and too late to change those plans he had 
already made. 
Applicant's  complete response is at Exhibit E. 

3 

AFBCMR  97-00999 

. 

THE BOARD CONCLUDES THAT: 

The applicant has exhausted all remedies provided by existing 

1. 
law or regulations. 

rc 

The application was timely filed. 

2. 
3 .   Sufficient  relevant  evidence  has  been  presented  to 
demonstrate the existence of probable error or injustice.  After 
reviewing  the  available  evidence,  we  are  persuaded  that  the 
applicant was not advised of the change in procedure prior to the 
purchase  of  his  tickets,  and  that  he  was  not  so  advised  until 
just days prior to his departure for his ADT.  Therefore, in our 
view,  the  applicant  had  no  other  alternative  but  to  purchase 
transportation from a CTO not under contract to the Government. 
In addition, we  believe  it probable  that  the applicant was  not 
familiar  with  the  Reserve  policy  concerning  the  purchase  of 
tickets prior  to  the  issuance of  orders  since he  was  a  fairly 
recent  addition  to  the  active  Reserve  rolls.  Accordingly,  we 
recommend that the applicant's  records be corrected as indicated 
below. 

THE BOARD RECOMMENDS THAT: 
The pertinent military records of the Department of the Air Force 
relating to APPLICANT, be corrected to show that he had no other 
alternative  but  to  purchase  transportation  from  a  commercial 
travel office  (CTO) not under contract to the Government, that he 
with his 
was authorized to purchase ai 
ring  the 
active  duty  for  training  at 
at  he  be 
period  6 October  1996 throug 
reimbursed  the  cost  of  the  airline  ticket  in  the  amount  of 
$271.00. 

The following members of the Board considered this application in 
Executive Session on 17 Feb 98, under the provisions of AFI  3 6 -  
2603: 

Mr. Thomas S. Markiewicz, Panel Chair 
Mr. Joseph G. Diamond, Member 
Ms. Sophie A. Clark, Member 

All  members  voted  to  correct the  records,  as  recommended.  T h e  
following documentary evidence was considered: 

Exhibit A.  DD Form 149, dated 24 Mar 97, w/atchs. 
Exhibit B. 
Applicant's Master Personnel Records. 
Exhibit C.  Letter, ARPC/DR, dated 12 May 97. 

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AFBCMR  97-00999 

Exhibit D.  Letter,  SAF/MIBR,  dated 2 Jun 97. 
Exhibit  E.  Letter,  applicant, dated 2 May  96  (sic). 

THOMAS S. MARKIEWICZ  - - 
Panel Chairman 

5 

AFBCMR  97-00999 

DEPARTMENT OF THE AIR FORCE 

WASHINGTON, DC 

J.UN 1 2  1998 

Office of the Assistant Secretary 

AFBCMR 97-00999 

MEMORANDUM FOR THE CHIEF OF STAFF 

Having received and considered the recommendation of the Air Force Board for Correction 

of Military Records and under the authority of Section 1552, Title 10, United States Code (70A 
Stat 116), it is directed that: 

records of the Department of the Air Force relating to- 
corrected to show that he had no other alternative but to purchase 
ercial travel office (CTO) not under contract to the Government, that 

tickets in connection with his active duty for training at 
riod 6 October 1996 through 19 November 1996, and that he 
cket in the amount of $271 .OO. 

Director 
Air Force Review Boards Agency 

U