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- Travel, PCS and Transportation
- Important Regulation Changes
- Travel & Transportation Entitlements Summary
- Permanent Change of Station (PCS)
- Temporary Duty (TDY)
- Junior COSTEP Travel Information
- Official Travel Forms
- Household Goods Officers
- Transportation
- Government Travel Charge Card
- Table of Frequently Used Acronyms
- Servicemembers Civil Relief Act
- Links
- Travel and Transportation Allowances FAQ
- About Medical Affairs
- Dental
- Active Duty Dental Program
- Previous Active Duty Dental Plan Member Portal
- Family Coverage: TRICARE Dental Program
- Retiree Dental Program
- Immunizations
- Periodic Health Update
- PHU FAQs
- Deployment Health Assessments
- Medical Waiver Program
- Smoking Cessation
- Medical Affairs FAQs
- About Personnel & Career Management
- Awards-Officer Awards Program
- Nominations Procedures and Forms
- Eligibility to Receive Awards
- Approval Levels
- Types of Recognition & Awards Criteria
- Non-PHS Awards
- Write-Up (Narrative) Guidance & Tips
- List of OPDIV Awards Coordinators (PDF, 67kb)
- List of Liaisons (PDF, 266kb)
- 2021 USPHS Awards Process Flowchart (PDF, 702kb)
- FAQs
- May 2022 Officer Awards
- DEERS Information (PDF, 139kb)
- Important Information Regarding DEERS and ID Cards During COVID-19 (PDF, 57kb)
- eCORPS Information
- Education Benefits Overview
- FAQs
- Forms
- Electronic Official Personnel Folder (eOPF)
- eOPF FAQs
- eOPF Status
- FAQs Practice Hours and Special Pay Changes
- Licensure
- Transcripts FAQs
- Extramural and Intramural Training FAQs
- Officer Leave and Absence Request FAQ
- Servicemembers Civil Relief Act (SCRA)
- Veteran Health Administration (VHA) Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) for Practice Hours
- Link to list of Professional Advisory Committee (PAC) Chairs (PDF, 19kb)
- About Policy
- Commissioned Corps Issuance System
- Equal Opportunity
- Frequently Asked Questions
- Political Restrictions
- Promotion Ceremony Protocol (PDF, 126kb)
- SGHG Drill and Ceremonies Manual (PDF, 3.39mb)
- Uniform Specifications
- PHS Hard Shoulder Boards and Sleeve Insignia (Male and Female) (PDF, 828kb)
- PHS Soft Shoulder Marks (Unisex) (PDF, 324kb)
- Medical Requirements for Promotion
- Force Readiness Information
- Link to list of Chief Professional Officers (CPO) (PDF, 348kb)
- Link to list of Liaisons (PDF, 266kb)
- Promotion Board Recommendations
- Not promoted? Now What?
- FAQs
- Board Composition and Scoresheet FAQs
- Officer Promotion Packet Verification System (OPPVS) Timeline & FAQs
- Promotion, Readiness and Compliance FAQs
- Permanent Promotion Eligibility Chart
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- Visit CDC.gov for Coronavirus (COVID-19) Public Health Updates
As Public Health Service Officers and America’s Health Responders, we stand ready to preserve public health and national security during national or global health emergencies. Our mission is to be out the door as soon as requested, as this is an “all hands on deck” situation. All Corps officers were placed on involuntary deploy or "alert" status effective Wednesday, March 25, 2020, irrespective of the 'on-call month' status. Under Commissioned Corps Directive 121.02, "Deployment and Readiness," as directed by Assistant Secretary for Health, Commissioned Corps Headquarters will deploy Commissioned Corps officers assigned to HHS OpDivs/StaffDivs, either voluntarily or involuntarily and without supervisory approval, who are not considered mission critical, for deployments, under the current National Emergency. Mission critical requests sent to CCHQ are not final until the request is approved by the CCHQ Director as per the POM 821.76 ”Deployment Procedures”. An officer with a non-HHS organization may be deployed in accordance with the Memorandum of Agreement/Understanding between the Public Health Service Commissioned Corps and the non-HHS organization.
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Travel and Transportation
Transportation
City-Pair Program (U3145)
General Services Administration (GSA) airlift contracted through the Contract City Pair Program shall be used for uniformed members.
Exception To The Use of Contract Carriers:
One or more of the following travel conditions which must be certified on the travel order, travel voucher, or other document provided by the traveler or OPDIV/Program/Agency-approved authorizing official, must apply if a non-contract carrier or a contract carrier other than the primary contractor is used for travel within a contract route.
Federal and military travelers on official business are required to use the contract carrier unless a specific exception applies. This required use is the incentive necessary to obtain airline participation in the city pair program and allows the airlines the business volume necessary to offer discounted rates. Choosing not to use the contract carrier because of personal preference, frequent flyer clubs, etc., is a violation of the contract. The only exceptions to use of the contract carrier are:
- No seats/flights available in time to accomplish the purpose of the travel. (For example, the contract flight is fully booked.)
- A lower priced commercial fare is available. GSA advises travelers to read the restrictions on such fares carefully. Often the non-contract fares prohibit or charge for changes or cancellations, require advance purchases, Saturday stays, etc. If you can live with the terms of the fare, you can use it. (Most OPDIVs/Programs/Agencies find that non-contract fares are not beneficial to their program because of all the restrictions that apply). If you see an attractive rate, check the contract carrier first to see if they have a similar fare.
- All of the flights are outside your core work hours and your OPDIV/Program/Agency has a written policy prohibiting travel outside core work hours (this very seldom occurs). Cost effective rail service is available and is consistent with mission requirements.
- Amtrak offers discount rates to Federal travelers. GSA encourages use of Amtrak when appropriate.
- Smoking is permitted on the contract flight and the nonsmoking section of the aircraft for the contract flight is not acceptable to the traveler.
Reimbursement for Personally Procured Common Carrier Transportation (U3110)
Officers may not be reimbursed for personally procured transportation when a specific mode of transportation is directed ( as distinguished from authorized).
Arranging for Official Travel (U3120)
Officers are required to use the Travel Management Centers (TMC) for official travel reservations including; Tickets (Air, Rail, Bus)
A non-contract travel agent may be used in unusual circumstances when there is no alternative.
A non-contract travel agent may be used in a foreign country if Contract Travel Office (CTO)/Travel Management Centers (TMC) services:
- are not reasonably available, and
- ticketing arrangements cannot be made though a branch office or general agent of an American flag carrier.
Payment Limitations
Reimbursement for transportation arranged through authorized/approved use of a non-contract travel agent or common carrier direct purchase, is limited to the amount the member would have paid if the arrangements had been made directly through the carrier(s).
Rental Car
PCS: If the privately owned vehicle of a member or member’s dependents, transported at Government expense for the member’s and/or dependent’s use, does not arrive at the authorized destination by the designated delivery date, the Secretary Concerned must have the member reimbursed for expenses incurred to rent a motor vehicle for the member’s and/or those dependents’ use. Reimbursement, by law, may not exceed $30 per day beginning the day a member first rents a motor vehicle after the designated required delivery and runs for 7 days or until the date the member’s POV is available for delivery to the member, whichever comes first. A POV has not arrived at the authorized destination if it is not made available for delivery to the member on or before the required delivery date. The maximum reimbursement is $210.
TDY or SHORT TOURS OF ACTIVE DUTY: An authorizing official may authorize/approve a rental car when it is to the Government’s advantage. A traveler’s personal preference or minor inconvenience must not be the basis for authorizing/approving special conveyance use.