Claim for Reimbursement of Expenses for Lodging and Meals

An Army official questioned whether the Joint Travel Regulations may be amended to authorize reimbursement to members of the Senior Reserve Officers' Training Corps (SROTC) for expenses incurred for meals and lodging when they were delayed en route to and from field training and cruises in areas where there were no government facilities available. The SROTC members were unavoidably delayed in foreign countries where they were traveling incident to a foreign exchange summer training program. Because of the delays, they incurred bills at hotels at which reservations had been made for them by the Navy. Legislation provides that SROTC members are to be furnished transportation and subsistence, or a travel allowance at a rate prescribed for cadets and midshipmen at the service academies, but not per diem. GAO held that since the Navy made the arrangements for their hotel rooms, the rooms may be treated as being furnished by the government, and reimbursement may be made to the members for actual and necessary expenses. Accordingly, the vouchers presented were certified for payment, and permission was granted to amend the Joint Travel Regulations consistent with this decision.