Board of Contract Appeals

                 General Services Administration

                      Washington, D.C. 20405







                                        

                     ________________________



                          June 10, 2002

                     ________________________





                         GSBCA 15656-TRAV





              In the Matter of JENNINGS W. BUNN, JR.





     Jennings W. Bunn, Jr., Agat, Guam, Claimant.



     Edward J. Lynch, Force Judge Advocate, United States Naval Forces, Marianas,

Guam, appearing for Department of the Navy.



HYATT, Board Judge.



     Claimant, Jennings W. Bunn, Jr., is a civilian employee of the Department of the Navy

in Guam.  In connection with his employment as the Navy's cultural resources manager,

historical preservation officer, and staff archaeologist at this location, Mr. Bunn received

several awards for cultural resources management and was authorized travel to the awards

ceremony in Washington, D.C.  He requested approval of invitational travel orders for his

wife to accompany him to the awards ceremony.



     Approximately five days prior to the ceremony claimant received written orders

authorizing the issuance of a ticket for Mrs. Bunn to accompany him to the ceremony.  The

orders were signed by a lieutenant at the base, and by the comptroller, who issued the ticket

with the understanding that the higher level approvals would be forthcoming.  The required

level of approval was the Deputy in Chief Pacific Fleet.  Ultimately, the Deputy disapproved

the invitational travel orders, but did so less than twelve hours before the scheduled departure

date and time.  



     Prior to departure, Mr. Bunn was advised by his supervisor that the command's request

for invitational travel orders had been denied.  Because of the short notice, claimant was not

able to purchase a commercial ticket for his spouse on the flight he was scheduled to take. 

The commanding officer at the base, Captain Jacobs, suggested that he could use the ticket

issued by the Government and that the command would sort the situation out upon his return. 

This caused Mr. Bunn to think that the commanding officer at the base had authorized the

issuance of the travel orders even though a higher authority had declined to do so.  Mr. Bunn

has now been told that he must repay the Government for the cost of his wife's ticket.  He has

requested that the Board review the Navy's decision.



                            Discussion

     

     By statute, each agency head has the discretion to pay cash awards to, and "incur

necessary expenses" for the honorary recognition of, employees who meet the criteria for

receiving such awards.  5 U.S.C.   4503 (2000).  If the agency determines that the presence

of the employee's spouse would further the purposes of the awards program, travel expenses

for the spouse may be considered a "necessary expense."  Sharon S. Rutledge, 69 Comp.

Gen. 38 (1989); accord Benjamin F. Ackerman, 70 Comp. Gen. 440 (1991).



     The Department of Defense (DoD), in the Joint Travel Regulations (JTR), Appendix

E, has prescribed the circumstances when the expenses of a spouse may be reimbursed for

the purpose of accompanying an employee to an award ceremony.  When the award

ceremony is geographically distant from the employee's residence, invitational travel orders

may be issued for an individual of the employee's choosing to attend a major award

ceremony, provided that the travel and transportation is authorized by the head of the DoD

component concerned or a designee, and the individual selected by the award recipient is

related by blood or otherwise has a close association with the award winner that is equivalent

to a family relationship.  JTR app. E, pt. I.C.5.



     For this command, the individual with authority to approve travel of this nature is the

Deputy in Chief Pacific Fleet.  That individual disapproved the request, albeit at the eleventh

hour.  The individuals who signed the travel orders were not authorized to commit

Government funds to pay for Mrs. Bunn's travel expenses, nor was the commanding officer

who advised Mr. Bunn to use the ticket.  Although Mr. Bunn may have relied on the

assurances of his commanding officer that the matter would be straightened out upon his

return from the ceremony, the fact remains that the official with authority to approve the

expenditure declined to do so.  Since the expenditure was not properly authorized, the

Government may require claimant to reimburse it for the cost of the ticket.    See, e.g., Jaret

A. Langston, GSBCA 15327-RELO, 01-2 BCA   31,513; Herman E. Harke, GSBCA

15282-RELO, 00-2 BCA   31,017.

 

     Although the Navy is entitled to demand repayment of the cost of the ticket used by

Mrs. Bunn to accompany claimant to the award ceremony, it may wish to consider exercising

the authority it has under law to waive repayment of this cost if it concludes that collection

would be "against equity and good conscience and not in the best interests of the United

States" and if there is no indication of "fraud, misrepresentation, fault, or lack of good faith"

on the part of the person whose debt is requested to be waived.  5 U.S.C.   5584(a)(2)(A)

(2000).  Pursuant to this statute, the head of the agency from which the claim arose may

waive a debt of $1500 or less.  See, e.g., Brian Johnson, GSBCA 15316-RELO, 01-1 BCA 

 31,337; Gerald A. Sherman, GSBCA 13791-TRAV, 97-2 BCA   29,299.  The exercise of

this authority is committed entirely to the discretion of the Navy, however, and is not within

the purview of this Board's review function.







                                   _________________________________

                                   CATHERINE B. HYATT

                                   Board Judge