IN THE CASE OF:	  

		BOARD DATE:  18 April 2012

		DOCKET NUMBER:  AR20120005138 


THE BOARD CONSIDERED THE FOLLOWING EVIDENCE:

1.  Application for correction of military records (with supporting documents provided, if any).

2.  Military Personnel Records and advisory opinions (if any).


THE APPLICANT'S REQUEST, STATEMENT, AND EVIDENCE:

1.  The applicant requests that he be reimbursed for shipment of his household goods (HHGs) in conjunction with his retirement.

2.  The applicant states, in effect, that he shipped his HHGs from Fort Drum, New York to Georgia without orders or a pre-approval and has been denied reimbursement for that move.  He goes on to state that he chose to retire at 20 years of service because he could not make E-7 during the last 6 years after serving at Fort Drum for 12 years and being on back to back deployments for 3 years.  He goes on to state that he put in his retirement application to retire in February 2012 but it was disapproved for a period of 3 months until he completed his Operation Enduring Freedom deployment.  He also states that he realized that he would not be able to accomplish everything he needed to do in order to retire, acquire a home and relocate his family and no one ever told him he needed an approval to move his HHGs or that he could apply for one. 

3.  The applicant provides a one-page letter explaining his application, a copy of his freight receipt, a copy of his request for exception to policy denial, and copies of emails related to his request for an exception to policy.

CONSIDERATION OF EVIDENCE:

1.  The applicant enlisted in the Regular Army on 12 February 1992 for a period of 4 years and training as a power generation equipment repairer.  He completed his training and has remained on active duty through a series of continuous reenlistments.  He was promoted to the pay grade of E-6 on 1 February 2005.
2.  On 21 June 2010, while stationed at Fort Drum, the applicant moved his family and 12,544 pounds of HHGs to Hephzibah, Georgia at a cost of $3,023.36.  

3.  The applicant’s retirement orders were published on 9 August 2011 with an effective date of retirement of 30 April 2012. 

4.  In January 2012 the applicant submitted a request for an exception to policy to be reimbursed for his HHGs shipment.  His request was denied on 6 February 2012.

5.  Information revealed during the processing of his request for an exception to policy indicates that the applicant shipped 197 pounds to Hephzibah, Georgia on 9 January 2012.  Additionally, the applicant’s HHGs weight allowance was 11,000 pounds and the government costs would have been $9,340.24 to ship 11,000 pounds to Georgia.

6.  The Joint Federal Travel Regulation (JFTR) contains basic statutory regulations concerning a Uniformed Service member’s travel and transportation entitlements and interpreted to have the force and effect of law.  Paragraph U5330 B provides that the authorization to HHG transportation accrues and becomes fixed on the Permanent Change of Station (PCS) authorization/order effective date.

7.  Paragraph U5330 G (HHG Transportation before an order is Issued) provides that HHG transportation (before a PCS order is issued) is authorized if the request for transportation is supported by a statement from the PCS authorizing official or designated representative that the member was advised before such an order was issued that it would be issued, an applicant-signed written agreement to pay additional costs incurred for transportation to another point required because the permanent duty station named in the order is different than that named in a statement prescribed in paragraph U5330-G1a and a written applicant-signed agreement to pay the entire transportation cost (if PCS order is not later issued to authorize the transportation.

8.  The length of time before the PCS order is issued during which a member may be advised that an order is to be issued may not exceed the relatively short period between the time when a determination is made to order the member to make a PCS and the date on which the order is actually issued.  General information furnished to the member concerning order issuance before the determination is made to actually issue the order (such as time of eventual release from active duty, time of service term expiration, eligibility date for retirement  and expected rotation date from OCONUS duty) are not advice that the order is to be issued. 

DISCUSSION AND CONCLUSIONS:

1.  The applicant’s contention that he should be reimbursed for the movement of his HHGs from Fort Drum to Georgia in connection with his retirement has been noted and appears to lack merit.

2.  While there is no doubt that the applicant saved the government a lot of money in making the move that he made of his own volition, the applicant was not authorized to make such a move and he has provided no evidence to show that he requested authorization to make such a move.

3.  The available evidence shows that he moved his HHGs on his own in June 2010 without any authorization.  He was not eligible to retire until his application was approved and he did not have 20 years of active service until February 2012, which was 20 months prior to his reaching retirement eligibility.

4.  While the sincerity of the applicant’s reasoning for moving his HHGs is not in dispute, the applicant was not authorized such a move and it does not appear that he would have been granted authorization had he requested because he was not eligible for such a move at the time.  

5.  Accordingly, there appears to be no basis to reimburse him for an unauthorized move that was made for his own personal convenience at the time.

BOARD VOTE:

________  ________  ________  GRANT FULL RELIEF 

________  ________  ________  GRANT PARTIAL RELIEF 

________  ________  ________  GRANT FORMAL HEARING

___X____  ___X ___  ____X___  DENY APPLICATION







BOARD DETERMINATION/RECOMMENDATION:

1. The evidence presented does not demonstrate the existence of a probable error or injustice.  Therefore, the Board determined that the overall merits of this case are insufficient as a basis for correction of the records of the individual concerned.

2.  The Board wants the applicant and all others concerned to know that this action in no way diminishes the sacrifices made by the applicant in service to the United States during the Global War on Terrorism.  The applicant and all Americans should be justifiably proud of his service in arms.




      _________X____________
               CHAIRPERSON
      
I certify that herein is recorded the true and complete record of the proceedings of the Army Board for Correction of Military Records in this case.



ABCMR Record of Proceedings (cont)                                         AR20120005138





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ABCMR Record of Proceedings (cont)                                         AR20120005138



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