RECORD OF PROCEEDINGS
             AIR FORCE BOARD FOR CORRECTION OF MILITARY RECORDS

IN THE MATTER OF:      DOCKET NUMBER:  BC-2003-03817

            COUNSEL:  NONE

            HEARING DESIRED:  NO

_________________________________________________________________

APPLICANT REQUESTS THAT:

He receive full reimbursement of  $5,500  for  expenses  he  incurred  as  a
result of his do-it-yourself (DITY) move.

_________________________________________________________________

APPLICANT CONTENDS THAT:

He was miscounseled and issued illegal amendments; item 4A  on  the  reverse
side of original order stipulates reimbursement  for  moving  his  household
goods (HHGs).  Approval of paperwork completed  by  the  Military  Personnel
Flight (MPF) at Hurlburt Field was erroneous.

In support of his request, applicant provided documentation associated  with
his DITY move, a copy of his AF Form  889,  Request  and  Authorization  for
Permanent Change of Station (PCS), AF Form 973,  Request  and  Authorization
for Change of Administrative Orders, and, an email communication.

Applicant’s complete submission, with attachments, is at Exhibit A.

_________________________________________________________________

STATEMENT OF FACTS:

Applicant is currently enlisted in the Regular Air Force  in  the  grade  of
technical sergeant.

The applicant made a permanent change of station (PCS)  move  from  Hurlburt
Field, FL to Kunsan AB Korea, with an approved follow-on (FO) assignment  to
Kadena AB Japan.  He relocated his family  under  a  do-it-yourself  (DITTY)
move to Fairfield, CA.

Applicant’s orders reflected the appropriate restrictions  and  entitlements
associated with  the  Follow-on-Program.   His  amendments,  (AF  Form  973)
authorized the applicant to relocate his dependents to a  designated  place,
(Fairfield, CA), but the orders also indicate item 4A  on  reverse  side  of
the original order apply.  Item 4A states, “Member has an  approved  follow-
on assignment and has agreed to relocate dependents, HHGs, or store HHGs  at
their  expense  to  address  specified  in  block  24.”   In  addition,  the
applicant signed his follow-on application on 8 Jan 03 (which was  not  part
of this package, but is now included) specifying the following:  a. I  agree
not to move my dependents at government expense except to the  FO  location,
but I may move them at personal expense, and b. I agree not to ship HHGs  at
government expense except to the  FO  location,  but  I  may  ship  HHGs  at
personal expense, and c. I agree not to store HHGs in temporary  storage  at
government expense, but I may store  them  at  personal  expense  during  my
unaccompanied overseas tour assignment, and  d.  I  may  ship  my  privately
owned vehicle (POV) at government expense to the overseas  location,  unless
shipment of POV is prohibited to a particular location, or I  am  ineligible
based on my rank.

_________________________________________________________________

AIR FORCE EVALUATION:

AFPC/DPAPP2 recommended denial and indicated the  applicant  should  not  be
reimbursed for the DITTY move and  also  retain  his  follow-on  assignment.
The documentation  enclosed  does  not  support  the  applicant’s  claim  of
miscounseling.  However, if the member requests cancellation of his  follow-
on assignment, he will then be authorized reimbursement for the DITTY  move.
 This option was offered to the member when he first claimed  miscounseling,
but he was unwilling to give up his follow-on assignment.  It  would  be  an
injustice and inequitable to allow  the  applicant  to  keep  his  follow-on
assignment and claim reimbursement for the DITTY move, as other  AF  members
are not offered this same type of opportunity.  Bottom-line,  the  applicant
may  request  cancellation  of  his  follow-on  assignment   if   he   wants
reimbursement for the DITTY move.  If he elects this option,  the  MPF  will
request cancellation of his follow-on assignment  through  this  office  and
his orders will be amended  accordingly.   He  will  then  be  allocated  an
assignment under the Enlisted Quarterly Assignment Listing (EQUAL).

AFPC/DPAPP2 complete evaluation is at Exhibit B.

_________________________________________________________________

APPLICANT'S REVIEW OF AIR FORCE EVALUATION:

Applicant reviewed the Air Force  evaluation  and  stated  that  while  AFPC
highlighted a portion of item 4A of his  amended  orders,  which  states  in
part, “member… has agreed to relocate… at their expense, etc.,  they  failed
to highlight the portion  which  states,  in  part,  “member  is  authorized
reimbursement  IAW  JFTR  U5340-C  and  U5218-B.”   He  considered  this   a
significant omission; since this was the phrase he  relied  upon  in  making
his decision to move his family.  While he did not research  these  specific
paragraphs personally before  accepting  his  amended  orders,  he  did  not
believe he should have to go to that length to obtain  accurate  information
on these  matters.   He  relied  upon  the  supposed  expert  counseling  he
received at the MPF and more so when it was endorsed by  the  Superintendent
Outbound Assignments.  He was under the impression from his  counselor  that
this paragraph gave authority for him to  be  reimbursed,  and  he  depended
upon this impression.

Applicant’s complete response, with attachments, is at Exhibit D.

_________________________________________________________________

THE BOARD CONCLUDES THAT:

1.  The applicant has exhausted all remedies provided  by  existing  law  or
regulations.

2.  The application was timely filed.

3.  Insufficient relevant evidence has been  presented  to  demonstrate  the
existence of an error or injustice.  We are not persuaded by his  assertions
that prior to his election to relocate his family, he was  miscounseled,  or
that he was not made aware  of  the  options  available  to  him.   In  this
respect,  the  Board  notes  that  his  orders   reflect   the   appropriate
restrictions  and  entitlements  associated  with  the  follow-on   program;
amendments to the orders authorized him to  relocate  his  dependents  to  a
designated place and indicate “Member has an approved  follow-on  assignment
and has agreed to relocate dependents,  Household  Goods  (HHGs),  or  store
HHGs at their own expense to the address specified in block 24",  Fairfield,
California; and on 8 Jan 03 he signed his follow-on application.  Therefore,
we agree with the opinion and recommendation of  the  Air  Force  office  of
primary responsibility  and  adopt  its  rationale  as  the  basis  for  our
conclusion that the applicant has  not  been  the  victim  of  an  error  or
injustice.  In  the  absence  of  evidence  to  the  contrary,  we  find  no
compelling  basis  to  recommend  granting  the  relief   sought   in   this
application.

_________________________________________________________________

THE BOARD DETERMINES THAT:

The applicant be notified that the evidence presented  did  not  demonstrate
the existence of material error  or  injustice;  that  the  application  was
denied without a personal appearance; and that the application will only  be
reconsidered upon the submission of newly discovered relevant  evidence  not
considered with this application.

_________________________________________________________________

The following members of the Board considered AFBCMR Docket Number  BC-2003-
03817 in Executive Session on 31 March 2004, under the provisions of AFI 36-
2603:

                 Mr. Thomas S. Markiewicz, Chair
                 Ms. Leslie E. Abbott, Member
                 Ms. Renee M. Collier, Member

The following documentary evidence was considered:

    Exhibit A.  DD Form 149, dated 1 Nov 03, w/atchs.
    Exhibit B.  Letter, AFPC/DPAPP2, dated 18 Dec 03.
    Exhibit C.  Letter, SAF/MRBR, dated 9 Jan 04.
    Exhibit D.  Applicant’s response, undated.



                                   THOMAS S. MARKIEWICZ
                                   Chair