I know searching stinks, so if you have a COT question for 10-04....

carolinapooh, BSN, RN · Apr 15, 2010

Hopefully you won't be dropping a bombshell on her...mid, you and I know how the Great Military Machine can work! I'll cross my fingers!

AF Nur · Apr 24, 2010

If I want to drive, How is the reimbursement calculated? is it by millage (multiplied by what?) or by the receipt that you submit for gas and lodging?

carolinapooh, BSN, RN · Apr 24, 2010

You actually don't need to submit receipts anymore. I had all my receipts and they didn't even take them. You're paid a set amount per mile and it's whatever the IRS is allowing; I think it's 50 cents a mile now. The AF literally Googles you from point A to point B and pays you based on the number of miles they get that way.

Keep in mind I'm prior enlisted, and know the headache of receipt tracking.

The whole receipt thing was nothing more than a pain in the backside. They knew where you were, they knew how many days they'd given you, they knew what the per diem and the mileage was. They weren't really going to pay you more than what you had coming anyway (and they'd never pay you any less) and yet they'd have a fit if you were missing a receipt for lunch on your second travel day!

The only thing you need to submit a receipt for is a "large, unusual expense" and I can't imagine what sort of expense like that would be reimbursable anyway on a PCS move, unless you had dinner in a four-star restaurant, which they're not going to pay an Lt for anyway. :)

Including the family separation allowance, my travel voucher (which is tax-free) was for $3700 to go from North Carolina to Texas. Keep in mind this includes driving two cars across country. I didn't get paid much more for "dependent expenses" because the per diem and lodging is crazy high. I was shocked at how high it was! This doesn't count the money they pay you for PCSing (I think that was $1200 for an Lt; I filed for and got that at COT).

My travel voucher wasn't paid until March, but that's because finance screwed up twice. It should have been paid in February (I filed it only two weeks before Christmas, so that basically set it back a month).

It wasn't too many years ago (I remember when this went before the DoD and Congress) that they didn't reimburse 2nd Lts for PCS moves and they didn't pay to move dependents at ANY rank (thank you, Donald Rumsfeld, for thinking that was okay - his Undersecretary went before Congress and literally blew his cork). An E4 makes about $1220 a month base pay. Can you imagine having a kid and a wife and paying to move them out of that - after you've paid all your other bills for the month? Finally someone got a clue....

midinphx, BSN · Apr 26, 2010

New question...

Do the ABU's shrink?

AF Nur · Apr 26, 2010

Thank you Carolinapooh for your reply. i guess my real situation is:

I am thinking about flying (but not at the AF's expense, but from my own pocket). All they have to know is that I am driving to COT and TDY. Do I have to submit any proof that says that I did drive and not fly in order to get paid for the milage that would be calculated? I hope that makes sense.

Thank you again.

midinphx, BSN · Apr 26, 2010

I'm flying to Alabama and then home. Then driving my car to San Antonio while I will have TMO manage my household stuff. Do I get reimbursed for milage from phoenix to san antonio too? My car will be packed full of whatever I still have left and my dog. Should be a fun trip. lol.

carolinapooh, BSN, RN · Apr 26, 2010

Thank you Carolinapooh for your reply. i guess my real situation is:
I am thinking about flying (but not at the AF's expense, but from my own pocket). All they have to know is that I am driving to COT and TDY. Do I have to submit any proof that says that I did drive and not fly in order to get paid for the milage that would be calculated? I hope that makes sense.
Thank you again.

I'm not sure how you'll be able to fly under your own expense if the Air Force is going to reimburse you. If you fly to COT, they have to buy the ticket, or they can refuse to pay you for it. Having the AF refuse to pay to fly you to training they're requiring doesn't make much sense.

Unless....and if I'm reading this wrong correct me.

If they ask for gas receipts - and they can - and you can't produce any, you're shafted. Don't lie to the Air Force because eventually they'll find out, and you'll find yourself court-martialed for defrauding the government. Why would you fly and then lie about it anyway? If that plane crashes, and they didn't know you were on it, your life insurance (which is $400K!) won't pay out. If you get stuck en route because of weather or cancelled flights or whatever, they won't extend you more travel days and they won't help you out if you lied about how you were getting there. If the airlines lose your stuff - which would include the $2000 worth of uniforms you'll be required to buy, the Air Force won't help you out. If you have to cancel the flight, you'll have to pay to change it - if it's a federally bought ticket, and cancellation is beyond your control, the Air Force will reimburse you the cost of changing the flight - or if they made the reservation, they pick up the bill.

Don't lie about how you get from point a to point b. The end result is always a bite in the rear. Don't start off your officer career that way.

carolinapooh, BSN, RN · Apr 26, 2010

I'm flying to Alabama and then home. Then driving my car to San Antonio while I will have TMO manage my household stuff. Do I get reimbursed for milage from phoenix to san antonio too? My car will be packed full of whatever I still have left and my dog. Should be a fun trip. lol.

No, you don't. You only get reimbursed from COT to Lackland, since that's all they're expecting you to do. The AF looks at it as though they're already paying to get you from home to COT once.

You only get three days travel from COT to SA, so keep that in mind when you figure out how long it will take you to fly back to Phoenix and then drive back to San Antonio. According to Google it's 982 miles from AZ to TX (and I've driven that particular route on I-10 and it's a hard grand, let me tell you).

You will have two days leave on the books when you leave Montgomery. I wouldn't plan on flying out of Montgomery before about two o'clock. That gives you a couple of hours to change and get to the airport.

Also, it could take up to three weeks for your stuff to get to San Antonio (why I have no idea, but it can), and they only pay for 10 days in TMO here.

AF Nur · Apr 26, 2010

Thanks Carolinapooh. Well I was going to have someone else drive my car out there. But that makes sense. Just to say it like it is and move on. Would HATE to get in trouble. Thanks again.

carolinapooh, BSN, RN · Apr 26, 2010

Thanks Carolinapooh. Well I was going to have someone else drive my car out there. But that makes sense. Just to say it like it is and move on. Would HATE to get in trouble. Thanks again.

They won't reimburse you for someone else driving your car. They will only reimburse the member for driving their own car - unless your spouse/dependent is the one driving the car.

If I came across as accusational I do apologize - you never know what people are thinking. You should have said what your plans were. :)

carolinapooh, BSN, RN · Apr 26, 2010

New question...
Do the ABU's shrink?

Amazingly enough, not really. They're a little tight when they come out of the dryer, but not really.

midinphx, BSN · Apr 26, 2010

AF Nur is just struggling with the logistics of getting from Virginia to Cot to NTP in Scottsdale and then to California with an aging car. That is her baseline worry (for clarification). Wish there were an easy answer AF. If I were you, I'd do the drive all the way with all those stops along the way. You can carry more stuff in your car and it'll make the trip into shorter hops than one big journey.