Petty Officer 2nd Class Jessy Cuellar performs along with her emotional help canine, Violet, at Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam, Hawaii, in 2021. The Air Force on Thursday launched an inventory of required documentation for airmen and guardians to provide when looking for reimbursement of pet bills throughout a everlasting change of station transfer. ( Elizabeth Taranto/U.S. Air Force)
Airmen and guardians looking for reimbursement for bringing pets with them to a brand new navy obligation project now have an inventory of the documentation wanted to make that occur.
An Air Force assertion Thursday lays out how personnel can obtain compensation for these bills, that are lined as much as $550 for everlasting adjustments of station throughout the continental U.S. and as much as $2,000 for strikes exterior the continental U.S.
Pet switch prices eligible for reimbursement embrace necessary microchipping, boarding charges, resort service prices, licensing charges on the new set up and air journey.
To obtain reimbursement for such bills, service members should be on PCS orders. The eligibility interval began Jan. 1.
In addition, itemized receipts are required indicating that they’re for one pet. The pet’s identify must be included if attainable, significantly if the expense is for individualized care equivalent to vaccinations.
Pets that journey in cargo as a result of they’re heavier than the federal government restrict will need to have their weight listed on the receipt.
Otis the canine waits to verify in on the Ramstein Air Base, Germany, passenger terminal in 2020. An Air Force record of documentation wanted for reimbursement of pet bills throughout a everlasting change of station transfer was issued Thursday. (Taylor Slater/U.S. Air Force)
If service members select to purchase their very own airline ticket at a place the place Patriot Express service is available, they should get a “non-availability letter” and have particular notes on their journey orders authorizing them to fly with a industrial service.
In the absence of this stuff, airmen and guardians will probably be reimbursed solely as much as the quantity it might have taken to ship their pet by Patriot Express.
Costs for delivery pets on the government-contracted Patriot Express are based mostly on a sliding scale in accordance with the animal’s weight. Commercial choices are typically costlier, and prices can differ significantly.
Service members who fly their pet on a industrial service should additionally embrace all of the paperwork they used to get the non-availability letter once they submit their journey declare after shifting to a brand new station.
Compensation for the bills of taking pets alongside for a PCS was granted in final yr’s National Defense Authorization Act. The coverage covers one family pet, both a cat or a canine.
Although the regulation approved as much as $4,000 per pet for transportation to and from abroad, the Defense Department set the utmost at $2,000.
In saying the brand new reimbursement coverage final yr, the Pentagon didn’t say why it had set the restrict at half the allowable quantity.
