____________________ March 21, 1997 _____________________ GSBCA 13699-RELO In the Matter of JERRY W. WARD Jerry W. Ward, Orange Park, FL, Claimant. G.A. Terrill, Chief, Travel Division, Defense Finance and Accounting Service, Columbus Center, Columbus, OH, appearing for Department of Defense. PARKER, Board Judge. In early July 1993, Mr. Jerry W. Ward, a civilian employee of the Department of the Navy, saw reports in the local media indicating that the base at which he was employed, the Naval Aviation Depot in Alameda, California, was on the Base Closure and Realignment Commission (BRAC) list of bases proposed to be closed. Anticipating a transfer to another location, Mr. Ward sold his house in Newark, California on July 29, 1993. The BRAC list, however, did not become final until it was approved by Congress in September 1993. Employees who work at bases scheduled to be closed are permitted to register in the Priority Placement Program (PPP), a program which helps soon-to-be displaced employees find new positions within the Department of Defense. The Naval Aviation Depot in Alameda was not scheduled to be closed until September 1996, and employees who worked at that base did not receive permission to enroll in the PPP until October 1994. Mr. Ward participated in the PPP in October and was eventually transferred to the Naval Aviation Depot in Jacksonville, Florida. Mr. Ward's claim for reimbursement of the expenses he incurred in connection with the sale of his home was denied by the Defense Finance and Accounting Service (DFAS) because the sale predated both final approval of the BRAC list and Mr. Ward's registration in the PPP. Mr. Ward's request that the General Accounting Office (GAO) review DFAS's decision was transferred to this Board. At some point in time before the BRAC list had become final, the Commanding Officer of a different naval base scheduled to be closed, one in Pensacola, Florida, requested permission to permit employees at that base to register immediately in the PPP. The Commanding Officer was told that employees would be permitted to register early, but would have to wait until closer to the September 1995 scheduled closure date for that base. The Commanding Officer issued an "all hands letter" in September 1993 telling employees of that base that authority to register in the PPP had been requested. Discussion The Joint Travel Regulations (JTR) set forth the rules governing Mr. Ward's situation: The general rule is that an employee may be reimbursed for real estate expenses incurred before, and in anticipation of, a transfer, if a clearly evident administrative intent to transfer the employee exists at the time the expenses are incurred . . . . The Comptroller General of the U.S. ruled in B-249451, dated 7 January 1993, that the announcement of a base closure, accompanied by an offer to assist in finding new positions for affected employees, is considered a clearly evident intent to transfer such employees. Registering an employee in the Priority Placement Program (PPP) constitutes an offer to assist in finding a new position. Employees registered in the PPP or other placement program, who sell their residence[s] in anticipation of a PCS [permanent change of station], may be entitled to reimbursement of expenses related to the sale of a residence when transferred to a new PDS [permanent duty station], if otherwise eligible under this chapter. JTR C14000-D.1. Thus, under the Comptroller General's rule as reflected in the JTR, an employee who sells his house in anticipation of a transfer due to a future base closure (and who expects to be reimbursed for real estate expenses) must demonstrate that at the time of the sale (1) the future base closure had been announced and (2) an offer to assist the employee in finding a new position had been made. Registering the employee in the PPP is the usual form of an offer to assist employees in finding a new position. At the time Mr. Ward sold his home, neither of the requirements for reimbursement had been met. Although Mr. Ward had heard reports in the media that his base would be among those to be closed, there had been no official announcement of that fact by the time he sold his home in July 1993. The BRAC list did not even become final until September 1993. Similarly, no offer to assist Mr. Ward in finding a new position was made until October 1994, more than a year after the sale. Mr. Ward contends that the above requirements were met when the Commanding Officer of the Naval Aviation Depot in Pensacola, sometime before the BRAC list became final, requested permission from his superiors to register Pensacola employees in the PPP, and then informed those employees in September 1993 that he had requested permission. We are unable to agree that the events in Pensacola entitle Mr. Ward to reimbursement. There is nothing in the record to suggest that an announcement that the base in Pensacola would be closed (assuming one can call the Commanding Officer's "all hands letter" such an announcement) can reasonably be construed as an official announcement that the base at Alameda would be closed. Moreover, in response to his request, the Commanding Officer in Pensacola was told that he would have to wait until a date closer to the anticipated closure date (September 1995) to offer assistance to his employees. Thus, even assuming that the events in Pensacola could be considered relevant to the situation at Alameda, at the time Mr. Ward sold his house in July 1993, no offer of assistance had been made to anyone. Decision Because it preceded official announcement that his base would be closing and an offer of assistance in finding other employment, the sale of Mr. Ward's house cannot be considered as one in anticipation of a transfer. Mr. Ward's claim for reimbursement of expenses incurred in connection with the sale is, therefore, denied. _______________________ ROBERT W. PARKER Board Judge