About Joint Federal Travel Regulations
The Joint Federal Travel Regulations (JFTR) is a publication covering monetary allowances associated with military travel and transfers. It covers monetary compensation for per diem, transportation, travel and relocation. This affects people who temporarily have to go far from where they're stationed, as well as those who transfer to another station or post. They file a travel claim in both cases; then the pay office compensates them based on the JFTR.
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JFTR Breakdown
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The JFTR provides rules on travel compensation. It breaks down as follows: people affected, administrative, transportation, baggage, local travel, temporary duty travel, transfers, evacuation, special circumstances, overseas cost of living and living allowances. The appendixes cover maximum per diem, allowances for consumable goods, cost of living involved with travel, overseas housing allowance, submission procedures for actual expense, travel reporting procedures, move-in housing allowance, travel entitlements and authorized rest and recuperation locations.
Authority
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U.S. laws and Department of Defense directives authorizes the procedures in the JFTR. The United States Code, title 37 and title 10; and Department of Defense Directives 1315.7, 5154.29 and 1327.5. They're also authorized by orders issued by the U.S. comptroller General, Defense Office of Hearings and Appeals, and General Counsel.
Locating Information
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The JFTR has over 600 pages, so an alpha numeric numbering system is used to quickly locate information. They start with a "U," which means, "volume 1." The next four digits identify the chapter and paragraphs. For example, "U5310" means, "volume 1, chapter 5, and paragraph 310. Each paragraph is broken down in Roman numeral outline format. For example, "U5310-B" means the second sub paragraph in paragraph 310.
Changes and Updates
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It's not practical to replace the whole publication every time there's a change. Instead, pay offices receive administrative instructions. The publication custodian removes the old rules and writes the new rules in their place. The effective dates of the change are listed with the correspondence that came with the updated information.
Getting the JFTR
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The Army gets their JFTR from this address: "U. S. Army Publications Distribution Center---St. Louis; 1655 Woodson Road; St. Louis, MO 63114-6181." The Navy gets theirs from the following address: "Naval Inventory Control Point---Cog "I" Material; 700 Robbins Avenue; Bldg. 1; Philadelphia, PA 19111-5098." The Marines order theirs online, using the instructions in their publication, MCO P5600.31. The Air Force orders theirs through their distribution center in Baltimore, MD 21220, using the instructions contained in their AFI 37-161 instruction.
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