FYI Local commuting distance is not 50 miles.
Like the title says. I learned this a few months ago going through an NROWS application. I was about to kick someone back for being 36 miles away but I Iike to have my references ready when I know I’m fvcking someone over. I have never been able to prove that the local commuting distance is 50 miles and every time I go back and forth with orders like this, they get approved with per diem and lodging allowed.
So what is the local commuting distance, you might ask?
Complicated is what it is.
(If you’re going through NROWS and click on the local commuting question, NROWS will tell you that the local commuting area is different for each command and to contact your gaining command for guidance.)
Local area is defined in JTR section 0206:
“The ‘local area’ is defined as the area within the PDS limits and the metropolitan area around the PDS served by the local public transit systems; the local commuting area as determined by the AO or local Service or DoD Agency; and the separate cities, towns, or installations among which the public commutes on a daily basis. An arbitrary distance radius must not be defined for the local commuting area.”
The wording here has changed a few times over the years but the last line has been included since at least 2010: “An arbitrary distance radius must not be defined for the local commuting area.”
Local commuting area is decided by the Navy region. There should be an instruction for each respective region with that information. Washington, DC has the DODI 4515.14 to define this. My region has the COMNAVREGNWINST 4600.1E for REDCOM Everett, NB Kitsap, Whidbey Island, and Port Hadlock.
If the Navy region does not define the local commuting area, it then goes to the Reserve region, and then the NRC CO, and the DTS AO from there. Even if it gets down to the DTS AO, it cannot be 50 miles due to that one line: “An arbitrary distance radius must not be defined for the local commuting area.” The word “must” means that that is a hard requirement.
Whoever decides the local commuting area will need to investigate the local area and determine which local public transport services the area and where they go to. When all is said and done, my local commuting area comes out to about 25 miles.
However, there is a situation that allows for a 50 mile radius local commuting area, and it is in that same JTR section 0206, and it is only applicable for remote work:
“For Service members and employees who are working remotely, whose official worksite is as defined in 5 CFR 531.602 and determined under the criteria in 5 CFR 531.605, whose remote official worksite is not within a defined local area, the local area will be considered to be within 50 miles of that remote official worksite.”
If you are not working remotely, this does not apply.
I have also heard that there is a supply/logistics instruction stating that NREL lodging will only be provided for members outside of 50 miles but I have not verified this. At least for AT/ADT/IDTT orders in NROWS, NREL doesn’t affect them.
If anyone knows an instruction that says otherwise or has anything else to add, I would genuinely love to see it. I have searched and found nothing defining a 50 mile radius commuting distance. I can only find information directly contradicting it.