Board of Contract Appeals
                    General Services Administration
                         Washington, D.C. 20405
 
 
                            _______________
 
                             June 11, 1999
                            _______________
 
 
                            GSBCA 14879-RELO
 
 
                   In the Matter of KELVIN R. MARTIN
 
 
        Kelvin R. Martin, APO Area Pacific, Claimant.
 
        Charles N. Stockwell, Directorate of Travel and Voucher Pay,
   Travel Branch, Defense  Finance and  Accounting Service,  Denver,
   CO, appearing for Department of Defense.
 
   NEILL,  Board Judge.
 
        Claimant, Kelvin R.  Martin, is a  civilian employee of  the
   Department of  Defense (DOD).  He seeks  to be reimbursed for the
   cost  of  storing his  privately  owned  vehicle (POV)  while  on
   overseas  assignment.   He also  seeks  to recover  the costs  of
   transporting his  POV to and  from a vehicle port  facility after
   being incorrectly advised  that he could take his  vehicle to his
   new  permanent  duty station  (PDS)  in  Japan.   We  affirm  the
   agency s determination that the claim cannot be paid. 
 
                              Background  
 
        Upon receipt of travel orders  to proceed to his new PDS  in
   Okinawa,  Japan,   Mr.  Martin   contacted  the   nearby  Traffic
   Management Office (TMO) at Fairchild  Air Force Base in the State
   of Washington.   Personnel at the TMO incorrectly  concluded that
   Mr. Martin could ship his  POV to his new  PDS.  Upon taking  his
   car   to  the  vehicle   port  facility  at   Auburn,  Washington
   (approximately 300 miles from Fairchild AFB), he was advised that
   it was not eligible for shipment.  
 
        Mr.  Martin then drove back to the  TMO at Fairchild.  There
   he received an apology and, unfortunately, more incorrect advice.
   This time he was told  that, if he made arrangements for  storage
   of the vehicle, the Government would pay for the cost of storage.
   He  was  given a  signed  memorandum  for  officials  in  Okinawa
   explaining that Mr.  Martin was entitled to storage of his POV at
   Government  expense.  The  memorandum cited as  authority Section
   U5800 of Volume I of the Joint Travel Regulations (JTR).  
 
        Acting on the advice of the TMO, claimant arranged for local
   storage of his vehicle.   On arrival at  Okinawa, he submitted  a
   claim for $1080, the cost of storing his POV near Fairchild.  The
   claim  was rejected  on the  ground that  there is  no regulatory
   provision authorizing reimbursement of civilian DOD employees for
   the  cost of storing their POVs when on overseas assignment.  The
   JTR  provision relied  on by  the TMO  at Fairchild,  upon closer
   scrutiny, was found to apply to uniformed personnel only.
 
        Upon rejection of his claim, Mr. Martin again sought payment
   of the  cost of storage plus  the costs of taking his  POV to and
   from the  vehicle port facility at Auburn.  The agency refuses to
   pay the claim and, at the request of Mr. Martin, has forwarded it
   to for us review.  
                               Discussion
 
        Claimant quite  understandably contends  that he  should not
   have  to  pay  for  the  incompetence of  the  TMO  officials  at
   Fairchild AFB.  This, however,  so far as concerns claims against
   the United States Government, is not  enough to justify recovery.
   This Board,  like agency  payment officials,  can only  authorize
   payment of claims when there is a basis in law or  regulation for
   doing  so.  Claimant does not  identify for us nor  do we find in
   the JTR, the  Federal Travel Regulation, or  the various statutes
   they implement  any  basis   supporting payment  of Mr.  Martin s
   claim.  In  this case, it is all  too clear that the  claimant is
   the victim of not one but two mistakes by the TMO.  Nevertheless,
   it   is  well  established  that  erroneous  advice  provided  by
   Government officials cannot,  in and of  itself, provide a  basis
   for  reimbursement  where  no  independent  authority   for  such
   reimbursement exists.   E.g.  Kenneth J.  Shaw, GSBCA  14876-RELO
   (May 17, 1999);  Masood Badizadegan, GSBCA 14393-RELO, 98-2 BCA  
   29,789;  Kevin S. Foster, GSBCA  13639-RELO, 97-1 BCA      28,688
   (1996).
 
                                Decision
 
        Mr. Martin s claim has been properly rejected by the agency.
 
 
 
                                      ____________________________
                                      EDWIN B. NEILL
                                      Board Judge