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                             February 13, 1997
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                             GSBCA 13671-RELO


                     In the Matter of JOHN W. McCOLLUM


     John W. McCollum, Aurora, CO, Claimant.

     Bobby A. Derrick, Acting Director for Finance and Accounting
Policy Implementation, Defense Finance and Accounting Section,
Indianapolis, IN, appearing for Department of Defense.

DeGRAFF, Board Judge.

     In August 1980, John W. McCollum, who was employed at the Army
Armor Center at Fort Knox, Kentucky, accepted a position with the
Department of Labor in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.  In 1985, Mr. McCollum
left the Department of Labor and returned from Saudi Arabia to Fort
Knox.  Later in 1985, the Army Corps of Engineers (Army) hired
Mr. McCollum and stationed him in Taif, Saudi Arabia.  

     In June 1991, officials at Fort Knox decided not to extend
Mr. McCollum's reemployment rights if he extended his overseas
tour.  This meant that, if Mr. McCollum extended his tour and later
wished to return to Fort Knox, there would be no guarantee that a
position would be available for him there.  Mr. McCollum
acknowledges that, before he extended his tour of duty in Saudi
Arabia, officials at Fort Knox and in Saudi Arabia notified him
orally and in writing that he would forfeit his reemployment rights
at Fort Knox if he extended his overseas tour.  Mr. McCollum says
that in June 1991, an unidentified "clerical type" person in Saudi
Arabia told him that he would not be returning to Fort Knox.  He
also says that this person was not a "qualified civil service
Personnel Staffing Specialist."  The documents submitted to us
establish that in June 1991, officials in Fort Knox asked officials
in Saudi Arabia to talk to Mr. McCollum about his reemployment
rights, and that someone in Saudi Arabia did so.  

     Mr. McCollum decided to extend his overseas tour in Saudi
Arabia.  In connection with this extension, on July 7, 1991,
Mr. McCollum signed a reemployment rights agreement in which he
acknowledged that he was forfeiting his reemployment rights.  On
May 18, 1992, Mr. McCollum sold a house he owned in Elizabethtown,
Kentucky.  

     In August 1994, Mr. McCollum returned to the United States
from Saudi Arabia and the Army found a position for Mr. McCollum at
Fitzsimons Army Medical Center in Aurora, Colorado.  In December
1994, Mr. McCollum submitted a claim for reimbursement of the
expenses he incurred in selling his house in Kentucky.  The Army
denied the claim and Mr. McCollum asked the General Accounting
Office (GAO) to review the Army's decision. 

                                Discussion

     A federal employee is entitled to be reimbursed for expenses
of selling a residence when the Government transfers him from a
duty station within the United States to a foreign duty station and
then to a duty station within the United States which is different
from the first duty station.  Such reimbursement, however:

     shall not be allowed for any sale . . . that occurs prior
     to official notification that the employee's return to
     the United States would be to an official station other
     than the official station from which the employee was
     transferred when assigned to the foreign post of duty.

5 U.S.C.  5724a(a)(4)(A) (1994).  The regulations that implement
this statutory provision provide that the "official notification"
required by the statute will generally be in the form of a change
of official station travel authorization.  41 CFR 302-6.1(g)(4)
(1996); JTR C14000-C.4.  An employee who sells his house before
receiving the official notification required by the statute and the
regulations is not entitled to be reimbursed for expenses incurred
in connection with the sale.  Harry T. Teraoka, GSBCA 13641-RELO
(Jan. 30, 1997); James H. Peak, B-255522 (May 22, 1995).

     The decision by officials at Fort Knox not to extend
Mr. McCollum's reemployment rights did not amount to a notice that
he would not be returning to Fort Knox.  Although Mr. McCollum had
no right to return to Fort Knox, he was not prohibited from
returning there if a vacancy for which he was qualified had existed
at the time he made a permanent change of station back to the
United States.  In addition, whatever statement a "clerical type"
person made to Mr. McCollum concerning his return to Fort Knox did
not amount to the official notification required by the statute. 
The permanent duty travel orders that the Army issued in November
1994 constituted official notification, required by the statute and
the regulations, that Mr. McCollum would not be returning to Fort
Knox.  Because Mr. McCollum sold his house in Kentucky before he
received those orders, he is not entitled to be reimbursed for the
expenses he incurred when he sold the house.  

     Finally, Mr. McCollum asks us to review whether the actions of
the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia were unconstitutional, to determine
whether those actions caused him to drop from a GS-13 to a GS-12,
and to reinstate him to a GS-13.  We lack authority to consider
this request.




                                   _____________________________
                                   MARTHA H. DeGRAFF
                                   Board Judge