TRAVEL AND TRANSPORTATION ALLOWANCES
SEO. 303. (a) Under regulations prescribed by the Secretaries concerned, members of the uniformed services shall be entitled to receive travel and transportation allowances for travel performed or to be performed under competent orders (1) upon a change of permanent station, or otherwise, or when away from their designated posts of duty regardless of the length of time away from such designated posts of duty, (2) upon appointment, call to active duty, enlistment, or induction, from home or from the place from which ordered to active duty to first station, and (3) upon separation from the service, placement upon the temporary disability retired list, release from active duty, or retirement, from last duty station to home or to the place from which ordered to active duty, regardless of the fact that such member may not be a member of the uniformed services at the time his travel is performed or is to be performed. Allowances above authorized may be paid without regard to the comparative costs of the various modes of transportation. The respective Secretaries concerned may prescribe (1) the conditions under which travel and transportation allowances shall be authorized, including advance payments thereof, and (2) the allowances for types of travel not to exceed amounts herein authorized. The travel and transportation allowances which shall be authorized for each type of travel shall be limited to one of the following: (1) Transportation in kind, reimbursement therefor, or a monetary allowance in lieu of cost of transportation at a rate not in excess of 7 cents per mile based on distances established or to be established over the shortest usually traveled routes, in accordance with mileage tables prepared by the Chief of Finance of the Department of the Army under the direction of the Secretary of the Army, (2) transportation in kind, reimbursement therefor, or a monetary allowance as provided in (1) of this sentence, plus a per diem in lieu of subsistence not to exceed $9 per day, or (3) for travel within the continental limits of the United States a mileage allowance of not exceeding 10 cents per mile based on distances established or to be established pursuant to existing law: Provided, That the travel and transportation allowances under conditions authorized herein for such members may be paid on separation from the service, or release from active duty, regardless of whether or not such member performs the travel involved.
(b) Without regard to the monetary limitations in this Act, the Secretaries of the uniformed services may authorize the payment to members of the uniformed services on duty outside the continental United States or in Alaska, whether or not in a travel status, of a per diem considering all elements of cost of living to members and their dependents, including the cost of quarters, subsistence, and other necessary incidental expenses: Provided, That dependents shall not be considered in determining per diem allowances for members in a travel status.
(c) In addition to the allowances authorized above, under such conditions and limitations and for such ranks, grades, or ratings and to and from such locations as may be prescribed by the Secretaries concerned, members of the uniformed services when ordered to make a change of permanent station shall be entitled to transportation in kind for dependents or to reimbursement therefor, or to a monetary allowance in lieu of such transportation in kind at a rate to be prescribed not in excess of the rate authorized in subsection (a) of this section, and in connection with a change of station (whether temporary or permanent), to transportation (including packing, crating, drayage, temporary storage, and unpacking) of baggage and household effects, or reimbursement therefor, to and from such locations and within such weight allowances as may be prescribed by the Secretaries, without regard to the comparative costs of the various modes of transportation. When orders directing a change of permanent station for the member concerned have not been issued, or when such orders have been issued but are of such a nature that they cannot be used as authority for transportation of dependents and baggage and household effects, the Secretaries concerned may, nevertheless, authorize the movement of the dependents and baggage and household effects and prescribe transportation in kind, reimbursement therefor, or a monetary allowance in lieu thereof as authorized in this subsection, as the case may be, only under unusual or emergency circumstances, including but not limited to, (1) circumstances when duty is being performed by such member at places designated by the Secretary concerned as within zones from which dependents should be evacuated, (2) circumstances when orders which direct temporary duty travel of such member do not provide for return to the permanent station or do not specify or imply any limit to the period of absence from the permanent station, or (3) circumstances when such members are serving on permanent duty at stations outside the continental United States or in Alaska, or on sea duty. The Secretary concerned shall define the term "permanent station", which definition shall include, but not be limited to, a shore station or the home yard or home port of the vessel to which a member of the uniformed services entitled to receive basic pay may be ordered; and a duly authorized change in home yard or home port of such vessel shall be deemed a change of permanent station. Under regulations prescribed by the Secretary concerned, transportation for dependents and baggage and household effects are authorized upon the death of a member of the uniformed services while entitled to receive basic pay pursuant to section 201 (e) of this Act.
(d) A member of the uniformed services on duty with or under training for the Military Air Transport Service, Marine Corps Transport Squadrons, or Fleet Logistics Support Unit and away from his permanent station, may be paid a per diem in lieu of subsistence in an amount not to exceed the amount to which he would be entitled if performing temporary duty travel, without in either case the issuance of orders for specific travel.
(e) Cadets of the United States Military Academy, midshipmen of the United States Naval Academy, cadets of the United States Coast Guard Academy, applicants for enlistment, rejected applicants, general prisoners, discharged prisoners, insane patients transferred from military hospitals to other hospitals or their home. and persons discharged from Saint Elizabeths Hospital after transfer from one of the uniformed services, shall be entitled to receive such travel and transportation allowances as are provided in subsection (a) of this section, as may be prescribed by the Secretaries concerned, due consideration being given to the rights of the Government as well as those of the individual in the promulgation of regulations prescribing said allowances.
(f) The Secretaries concerned in establishing the rates and types of allowances authorized by this section shall consider in prescribing (1) monetary allowance in lieu of transportation-average cost of firstclass transportation including sleeping accommodations, (2) per diem rates-the current economic data on cost of subsistence (including lodging and other necessary incidental expenses related thereto), and (3) mileage rates-average cost of first-class transportation including sleeping accommodations and current economic data on cost of subsistence (including lodging and other necessary incidental expenses related thereto).
(g) The Secretaries concerned shall determine what shall constitute a travel status.
(h) Regulations shall be promulgated by the Secretaries of the uniformed services, as provided herein, and such regulations shall be uniform for all services insofar as practicable: Provided, That no provisions of this section shall become effective until such regulations have been issued: Provided further, That nothing contained in this Act shall preclude the payment of travel and transportation allowances under provisions of law in effect on the day prior to the effective date of this Act, until such regulations are issued pursuant to this subsection.
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