Subisdizing Attendance At Awards Ceremonies

When can the government subsidize attendance at an awards ceremony? Air Force lawyer Mark Stone provides a number of Department of Defense and Air Force references in his e-mail newsletter, as well as the following other authorities:

• 70 Comp. Gen. 440, B-241987, April 25, 1991 (spouse travel to attend an award ceremony)

• 69 Comp. Gen. 38, B-233607, Oct. 26, 1989 (spouse travel to attend an award ceremony)

• 55 Comp. Gen. 1332 (1976) (travel to accept an award from a non-Federal organization)

• 5 USC 4503 (awards by Federal agencies to Federal employees)

• GAO guide, Principles of Federal Appropriations Law, Third Edition, Jan. 2004, Volume I, page 4-167. [The March 2009 update to the guide does not have guidance on this issue.]

Contact Mr. Stone to be added to his mailing list (address disguised to throw off automated address-gathering software used by spammers): mark_dot_ stone--AT--wpafb _dot_af_dot_mil.

The Air Force Materiel Command (AFMC) ethics website (registration required) has more ethics information:

http://afmcethics.wpafb.af.mil