Docket No. 4984-19  
Ref: Signature Date  
From:  Chairman, Board for Correction of Naval Records  
To:   Secretary of the Navy  


Ref: (a) 10 U.S.C. § 1552 
     (b) Joint Travel Regulations (Oct 2016) 
     (c) DoDI 1315 (Procedures for Military Personnel Assignments) 


Encl:(1) DD Form 149 of 13 May 19 
     (2) LOPG printout/History of assignments printout 
     (3) BUPERS Order 1766 of 22 Aug 16 
     (4) MMPA printout 
     (5) Joint Travel Regulations (Oct 2016) 
     (6) Certificate of marriage 
     (7) Dependent spouse lease agreement 
     (8) NAVPERS 1336/3 (Special request/authorization) of 29 Nov 17 
     (9) DD Form 93 (Record of emergency data) of 31 Oct 18 
    (10) NAVPERS 1070/602 (Dependency application) of 27 Feb 19 
    (11) OCNO memo 7431 Ser N130C2/19U1928 of 21 Oct 19 


1.  Pursuant to the provisions of reference (a) Subject, hereinafter referred to as Petitioner, filed enclosure (1) with this Board requesting, in effect, that the applicable naval record be corrected to show Petitioner was authorized Basic Allowance for Housing (BAH) at the dependents location from date of marriage 8 October 2016. 

2.  The Board, reviewed Petitioner’s allegations of error and injustice on 21 February 2020 and, pursuant to its regulations, determined that the corrective action indicated below should be taken on the available evidence of record.  Documentary material considered by the Board consisted of the enclosures, relevant portions of Petitioner’s naval record, and applicable statutes, regulations, and policies. 

3.  The Board, having reviewed all the facts of record pertaining to Petitioner’s allegations of error and injustice, finds as follows: 

a.  Before applying to this Board, Petitioner exhausted all administrative remedies available under existing law and regulations within the Department of the Navy. 

b. On 22 August 2016, Petitioner was issued official modification to change duty orders (BUPERS order: 1766) while in the initial skills training pipeline.  See enclosure (3). 

d.  On 27 September 2016, Petitioner began his first day of leave while in a travel status to his permanent duty station (PDS).  See enclosure (4). 

e.  On 8 October 2016, Petitioner married in , prior to effective date of 

f.  On 10 October 2016, Petitioner’s spouse signed a lease agreement for premises located at on a month-to-month basis [notarized on 25 February 2019].  See enclosure (7). at the bachelor COLA rate.  See enclosures (2) and (4). 

h.  On 29 November 2017, Petitioner submitted a special request/authorization requesting BAH for dependent residing at  effective date of marriage, and was approved by 

i.  On 31 October 2018, Petitioner certified his record of emergency data with his spouse at .  See enclosure (9). 

j.  On 27 February 2019, Petitioner certified a dependency application with his spouse at .  See enclosure (10). 

k.  On 22 February 2020, Petitioner transferred to  with training in route.  See enclosure (2). 

l.  On 23 April 2020, Petitioner arrived to  and his BAH at the with-dependent rate for was started.  See enclosures (2) and (4). 

m.  Enclosure (11) is the Office of the Chief of Naval Operations’ advisory opinion concluding that the evidence proffered by Petitioner is insufficient to support the requested record change.  The advisory opinion stated –“Member was serving an accompanied tour in , and it was his personal choice to leave his spouse behind. Furthermore, member does not qualifyfor BAH at his dependent’s location because the dependent wasn’t “acquired”. Based on the documents provided, the member arrived atdependent, and did not “acquire” them at his permanent duty station. 

CONCLUSION 

Upon review and consideration of all the evidence of record, and notwithstanding the advisory opinion, the Board found the existence of an error/injustice warranting corrective action. The Board noted that per the Joint Travel Regulations; Chapter 10, Part E, Section 2, paragraph U10402.B: “Ordinarily a housing allowance is paid based on the member’s PDS, or the home port for a member assigned to a ship or afloat unit.  However, the Service may determine that a member’s assignment to a PDS or the circumstances of that assignment requires the dependent to reside separately.  The Secretary Concerned or the Secretarial Process, at Service discretion, may authorize/approve a housing allowance based on the dependent’s location or old PDS.”  See enclosure (5). 

The Board determined that, the Petitioner’s BUPERS Order were issued prior to date of marriage and no dependents transportation had been authorized.  Additionally, there was no evidence that the Petitioner’s spouse had been appropriately screened for suitability of overseas assignment and assigned as “Command-Sponsored Dependent” required by reference (b) and (c) for authorization of dependent travel and transportation allowances to the OCONUS PDS location.  The Board noted because the spouse was never given an overseas suitability screening or command sponsored or relocated at government expense; BAH and COLA should have been started based on spouse’s location at zip code 96749.  Furthermore, upon the reporting for duty, the Petitioner’s dependency application was audited and approved, without any mention of sponsoring his spouse or starting the appropriate entitlements for her location.  Lastly, the Board noted that an inexperienced sailor of this grade (E2) needs command intervention and assistance to ensure appropriate regulations are met. The Board relied heavily on the commands absence during and after the Petitioner’s PCS, the JTR, and Petitioner’s BUPERS orders in determining the Petitioner’s entitlement to BAH/COLA and concluded the Petitioner’s BUPERS orders should have been modified from accompanied to unaccompanied orders.  

RECOMMENDATION 

That Petitioner’s naval record be corrected by taking the following corrective actions. 

Petitioner submitted a timely request for unaccompanied orders upon arrival to his OCONUS duty station, and was approved by cognizant authority. 

Petitioner was authorized BAH at the with-dependent rate for , from 8 October 2016 to 22 April 2020 to include Cost-Of-Living Allowance (COLA) at the with-dependents. 

Note:  Defense Finance & Accounting Service (DFAS) will complete an audit of Petitioner’s records to determine if Petitioner is due any back pay and allowances. 

A copy of this Report of Proceedings will be filed in Petitioner’s naval record. 

4.  Pursuant to Section 6(c) of the revised Procedures of the Board for Correction of Naval Records (32 Code of Federal Regulations, Section 723.6(c)), it is certified that quorum was present at the Board’s review and deliberations, and that the foregoing is a true and complete record of theBoard’s proceedings in the above-entitled matter. 

5.  The foregoing action of the Board is submitted for your review and action.  

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