Liberatore

FACTS AND PROCEEDINGS

On the morning of July 18, 2001, Liberatore, a Command Master Chief in the United States Navy, flew from Norfolk, Virginia to Los Angeles, California. Liberatore was traveling from his permanent duty station in Norfolk on temporary additional detached duty (TAD) travel orders which autho- rized him to travel via Los Angeles to Naval Air Weapons Station China Lake and Naval Air Weapons Station Point Mugu, and then to a Command Career Counselor Symposium in Nashville, Tennessee. According to the officer who autho- rized the TAD orders, Liberatore’s travel to the bases in Cali- fornia was intended to achieve two purposes: first, to permit him to meet with his counterpart at the Pacific Fleet Airborne Early Warning Wing; and second, to permit him to visit and to consider accepting orders for his next permanent duty assignment to either China Lake or Point Mugu.

Although Liberatore’s travel orders referenced the locations of his travel, the orders did not impose specific restrictions on his travel or activities. According to the authorizing officer, the orders implicitly contemplated that Liberatore would enjoy periods of liberty (i.e., free time) when he was…