Getting Per Diem for time spent in API when arriving at Corpus

[Rango]

Hey everyone,

I have an interesting situation that just came to my attention. A few of my buddies just checked into TW-4 at NAS Corpus Christi to start Primary. As part of their check-in process, student control at TW-4 is having them fill out some paperwork that will get them a pretty big check ($5000-$7000) for per diem that they were entitled to while in Pensacola. Now, I know rumors are not always true, so I tracked down the lady at TW-4 that is having them do this. She didn't really give me a clear answer on what exactly she's having them fill out, but assured me that it was for "per-diem entitled to us while in Pensacola". That having been said, here is how our orders were written and what everyone who reported around the same time as me did when we got to Pensacola:

-Our orders were Temporary Duty Under Instruction in a Flying Status Involving Flying
-Order accounting code: 341
-We were not given a PCS move and instead only authorized 600 lbs.
-We were given 10 days TLE, but our orders were stamped so we could get BAH
-All of us lived off base and got BAH monthly
-We were written PCS orders to our next command but only authorized 600 lbs. out of Pensacola (since we were only authorized 600 lbs. going into Pensacola)

The only reason I'm posting this is because I've read somewhere else on this forum that people have gotten checks for per diem before...but how can you get per diem with Temporary Duty Under Instruction orders? Also how can you get per diem while collecting BAH? Seems really odd to me since our orders are not written for per diem entitlement...does anyone have any clue what is going on?

 

[Picaroon]

That doesn't make any sense to me. Ah the joys of TW-4 stucon... Nice people but sometimes it was a headache. I wonder if she could possibly mean DLA, although it wouldn't be nearly that much.

 

[Rango]

I know for a fact we weren't authorized DLA to Pensacola or from Pensacola so it can't be that...

 

[Rango]

Also my friends at TW-4 were saying that for the past month or so being have actually been getting these checks in hand...

 

[squorch2]

If I recall correctly, the accounting code is what determines whether you get per diem or not - 341 = no per diem, 342 = per diem. At least, that's what I was told many moons ago...

 

[MIDNJAC]

Be careful. I remember this kind of thing happening in my timeframe ('08), and a bunch of guys ate a ton of money after they got the same per diem for the same thing, spent it, and then it was revoked due to the fact that they collected BAH while in Pensacola. Not saying the lady isn't right, or that the same thing will happen, but be careful. I'm not versed well enough in the pay regs to know if this is BS or legit, but it sounds sketch to me.

 

[C420sailor]

If they tell you to fill paperwork for per diem, by all means do it. But DO NOT SPEND THE MONEY WITHOUT BEING ABLE TO COVER IT. Stick it in a high yield savings account. If/when Big Navy comes looking to reclaim the cash they gave you by mistake, you can keep the interest.

 

[revan1013]

I don't remember getting per diem for being in API...

Be careful. I got a big check for $2700 more than I was owed for my move to CC. I know people that got up to almost $7000 for that move. We all had to pay it back. Sometimes the pay-back process is handled well. We were able to set up a payment plan. I heard in the past, it was possible to get your pay "fixed" up to years later with very little warning and suddenly have to pay back quite a bit.

 

[KCOTT]

Yeah, I was told the same bullshit in 2009. Never happened. You collected BAH for Pensacola, end of story. I did get DLA though.

 

[flyingwahoo]

I am one of the dudes that just got to TRAWING four and can confirm that stucon is telling guys to expect a sum of money in the neighborhood of $5000 for per diem while in Pcola. We are not recieving DLA, but we did get 600 lbs to move from Pcola to Corpus Christi.

If this affects you or you care to know what happened...

First off, as TDY status members in Pensacola, we would have been much better off getting per diem than getting BAH. Unfortunately, because of the the way the joint travel pub is worded regarding who gets per diem while on TDY, flight school studs don't get per diem. This is because you can't get per diem while on TDY if your orders do not include your follow-on destination. For you guys still in API, you'll notice soon that your orders to Corpus aren't really a brand new set of orders. They just un-delete the part of your original Pensacola orders that talked about following on to Corpus. Seriously, the order number and everything will be the same. This is the reason for the confusion you may have had reading stuff in your original orders to Pensacola that mentioned PCSing even though you definitely didn't get a PCS to Pensacola. They just highlighted and deleted the Corpus part to avoid paying per diem and then forgot to take out the PCS part.

We were also written out of the rule that says we have to be switched from TDY to permanent duty if we're there for more than 140 days. Normally we would have to be switched over but it is "up to the commander" to leave us TDY (still without per diem). Ok policy writers, you win again.........but then why were we getting BAH? It's definitely a good thing we got it, but the pub doesn't say anything about that unless I missed something. Baffling.

Also, the reason we don't get DLA is that you are not eligible for DLA on your first PCS move (for whatever reason). If you are an academy grad you probably moved out into Annapolis before moving to Pensacola before moving to Corpus- but this is your first PCS move in the Navy's eyes- no DLA. If you are a ROTC grad, you probably went on IRR, moved yourself home, tried to find a job, failed, whined, moved to Pensacola, and then moved to Corpus- but alas, no DLA still. I don't know anything about OCS. This is all well and good because it is in the pub plain as day. It's not wonderful, but it's clear so I guess that's fair enough. Here's the hitch (at least for ROTC guys): if you want to go ahead and move your stuff out of your home to Corpus as your Home of Record move in stead of living in a furnished place with your 600 lbs, you can only move what you owned before your were commissioned at your commissioning source. So for moving your life starts at your commissioning source, but for DLA your life starts at home. Yup.

I've heard some people making guesses that this money is a sort of helper outer since the powers that be got upset about the guys who were living in their cars at Pensacola. I honestly have no clue what it is. If it were really per diem, I think it would be a heck of a lot more for most people ($90ish times somewhere around 145 days). I guess we'll have to see. I agree with the above about putting the money in savings and hanging out for a while.

 

[squorch2]

Unless there's been a change either in your accounting code (the 342 vs. 341 thing) or the JFTRs - and I'm betting on neither of them changing - I would not spend a dime of that money.

 

[Whatever]

Hey everyone,

I have an interesting situation that just came to my attention. A few of my buddies just checked into TW-4 at NAS Corpus Christi to start Primary. As part of their check-in process, student control at TW-4 is having them fill out some paperwork that will get them a pretty big check ($5000-$7000) for per diem that they were entitled to while in Pensacola. Now, I know rumors are not always true, so I tracked down the lady at TW-4 that is having them do this. She didn't really give me a clear answer on what exactly she's having them fill out, but assured me that it was for "per-diem entitled to us while in Pensacola". That having been said, here is how our orders were written and what everyone who reported around the same time as me did when we got to Pensacola:

-Our orders were Temporary Duty Under Instruction in a Flying Status Involving Flying
-Order accounting code: 341
-We were not given a PCS move and instead only authorized 600 lbs.
-We were given 10 days TLE, but our orders were stamped so we could get BAH
-All of us lived off base and got BAH monthly
-We were written PCS orders to our next command but only authorized 600 lbs. out of Pensacola (since we were only authorized 600 lbs. going into Pensacola)

The only reason I'm posting this is because I've read somewhere else on this forum that people have gotten checks for per diem before...but how can you get per diem with Temporary Duty Under Instruction orders? Also how can you get per diem while collecting BAH? Seems really odd to me since our orders are not written for per diem entitlement...does anyone have any clue what is going on?

 

[Rango]

I am one of the dudes that just got to TRAWING four and can confirm that stucon is telling guys to expect a sum of money in the neighborhood of $5000 for per diem while in Pcola. We are not recieving DLA, but we did get 600 lbs to move from Pcola to Corpus Christi.

If this affects you or you care to know what happened...

First off, as TDY status members in Pensacola, we would have been much better off getting per diem than getting BAH. Unfortunately, because of the the way the joint travel pub is worded regarding who gets per diem while on TDY, flight school studs don't get per diem. This is because you can't get per diem while on TDY if your orders do not include your follow-on destination. For you guys still in API, you'll notice soon that your orders to Corpus aren't really a brand new set of orders. They just un-delete the part of your original Pensacola orders that talked about following on to Corpus. Seriously, the order number and everything will be the same. This is the reason for the confusion you may have had reading stuff in your original orders to Pensacola that mentioned PCSing even though you definitely didn't get a PCS to Pensacola. They just highlighted and deleted the Corpus part to avoid paying per diem and then forgot to take out the PCS part.

We were also written out of the rule that says we have to be switched from TDY to permanent duty if we're there for more than 140 days. Normally we would have to be switched over but it is "up to the commander" to leave us TDY (still without per diem). Ok policy writers, you win again.........but then why were we getting BAH? It's definitely a good thing we got it, but the pub doesn't say anything about that unless I missed something. Baffling.

Also, the reason we don't get DLA is that you are not eligible for DLA on your first PCS move (for whatever reason). If you are an academy grad you probably moved out into Annapolis before moving to Pensacola before moving to Corpus- but this is your first PCS move in the Navy's eyes- no DLA. If you are a ROTC grad, you probably went on IRR, moved yourself home, tried to find a job, failed, whined, moved to Pensacola, and then moved to Corpus- but alas, no DLA still. I don't know anything about OCS. This is all well and good because it is in the pub plain as day. It's not wonderful, but it's clear so I guess that's fair enough. Here's the hitch (at least for ROTC guys): if you want to go ahead and move your stuff out of your home to Corpus as your Home of Record move in stead of living in a furnished place with your 600 lbs, you can only move what you owned before your were commissioned at your commissioning source. So for moving your life starts at your commissioning source, but for DLA your life starts at home. Yup.

I've heard some people making guesses that this money is a sort of helper outer since the powers that be got upset about the guys who were living in their cars at Pensacola. I honestly have no clue what it is. If it were really per diem, I think it would be a heck of a lot more for most people ($90ish times somewhere around 145 days). I guess we'll have to see. I agree with the above about putting the money in savings and hanging out for a while.

Our orders were TEMDUINS (Temporary Duty Under Instruction) Not TDY (Temporary Duty). I'm not sure if that makes a difference, but were you given any hard data (like a JFTR section) that TW-4 is using to process this per diem claim? I mean it sounds great that they want to give us that money because people were living in their cars in Pensacola but without a JFTR to back it up it still sounds really sketchy to me.

 

[mouthpuncher]

All we know is what they have been telling people at TW-4. If the money is legit I hope all this discussion doesn't ruin it for everyone else. If you think it's sketchy it could be. I would happily accept the money and put it in a high yield account for a while until the Navy decides whether they want it back. Then when they want it, I can give it to them and will have made some interest. If they don't then I'm that much richer.

 

[navyterp67]

Checked in to TW-4 this week, and STUCON said that we are not getting the rumored per diem. We will all receive around $1000-$1500.

Last week, someone complained about some BS like getting $4000 instead of $5000. STUCON looked into it, and found an accounting mistake. Turns out we are not entitled to all that per diem. As of now, a handful of students are getting letters saying that they have to pay that money back, but there are many out there who don't have to... yet.

Sooo... Don't count on getting that $$$ you heard about. If for some reason you do, don't spend it because it's going right back. I guess better to find out now rather than have to pay that money back months or years from now when they finally catch their mistake.