Pardon me if I use the wrong terminology; I’m not military… this is for a friend of mine.
Said friend has been assigned to a billet involving off-base civilian work.
While off-base, the workplace is much closer to a far more expensive zone than to a cheaper zone. The housing allowance difference is substantial, and he’s certainly paying prices competitive within the more expensive zone for housing.
However, the military saw it fit to deem that his location and pay fall in the cheaper CONUS zone. He’s paying a higher rent over his previous assignment for a crummier place, but he’s getting less housing allowance for it.
BAH. Not contractor. Officer. Don’t want to give out zip code because that’ll give away who he is.
I’ll relate it to Seattle terms as that’s what I’m most familiar with. It very much parallels his scenarios in terms of distance and pay. It’s like him working in Bellevue WA, and getting Everett WA housing allowance rates, when he should be more appropriately getting Seattle WA housing allowance rates.
Anyway, his BAH is determined by his duty station zip code, not where he lives. The military doesn’t care where you choose to live, but rather where you are ordered to work.
Been that way in the 25 years I’ve been in anyway.
I assume that if he feels he is not being given the proper BAH, then he needs to visit his Disbursing/Personnel Support Detachment office, and try to get them to make changes to his BAH location.
Rates themselves are set by a Navy office much higher up the food chain, much closer to Congress.
It’s not about where he works. It’s about where he LIVES! Does he have a valid lease for a house in the more expensive area or not?? It’s a simple question. Nothing needs to be “challenged”. Either he has a lease, or he doesn’t.
If he produces a valid lease or mortgage for residence in the expensive area, then he will be paid for it. It’s a matter of taking a copy of the lease and other supporting documentation (his orders assigning him to work away from the base) to his finance office and filling out a DA FORM 2142.
No such thing as an “edge case”. The zip codes already have boundries. No house exists on the “edge” of a zip code. Every house in American falls completely within a zip code. You can’t challenge zip codes.
Not really sure what an 'edge case. is. If your mysterious friend is an Officer, he should reach into his trousers count to two, and get his own answer.
But…
The JFTR (Joint Federal Travel Regulation) deals with BAH. I didn’t see any waiver issues there. If he is traveling a great distance from his duty station, and this will continue for some time, I’d ask for my orders to be modified to the true duty station, so that would count for my BAH.
There are only nine BAH areas is Washington. So he could have his duty station moved, but not have his BAH changed.
I’ll say again. BAH is determined by duty station, not where you choose to live.
We’re defining edge cases differently, but thank you for your information nonetheless – it’s the answer I’m looking for. I’ll pass everything in this thread onto to him.
This is 100% INCORRECT. BAH is determined by his duty station. NOT where he/she has choosen to live.
From the DoD Website:
Why do you base BAH on my duty location? Why not use my residence location?
The policy decision to use duty location as a basis for BAH is based on the desire to compensate members for the typical housing cost near the member’s duty location. Once the duty station is known, the BAH compensation is fixed, regardless of where the member lives. Were the member’s residence location to be used as a basis for the allowance, there is the concern that this would cause a member to choose the residence location based on BAH. In some cases, this may lead to a member choosing to live further from the duty station, simply to receive higher BAH. In other cases, when a member commutes from/to a lower cost area, the members would find the BAH to be lower, even though the commuting expenses are higher. The Services decided to base the allowance on the duty location with the full knowledge that members would still be free to live where they choose, but that this decision would not affect the BAH amount.
Geographically separated families (geographic bachelors) are normally eligible for BAH based on the member’s duty station. Each Service budgets for support of a certain number of members and families at each location. If a growing number of people decide to leave their families in Washington, or Tampa while the member PCSs to Mt Home or Ft. Hood that could skew the budget and service support planning for these locations. Also, a fundamental philosophy of military service is that members, with their families, create a better work environment and esprit de corps when they can be active participants in the local base and community. In certain circumstances, with specific approval of the Secretary of the Service concerned, a member may be granted an exception to receive BAH based on the dependent’s location. For example if a member has a sick child that requires medical attention only available in a certain location (say Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington, DC), and the member receives a PCS order, the member might leave the family in Washington and request BAH eligibility for that location. Such exceptions do not ordinarily apply to spousal employment or other personal choices.
That’s not exactly the case. Certainly not always.
Also depends on the type of orders the Soldier is on (TDY, TCS, PCS, Title 10 AGR) whether or not he/she has dependants, and a bunch of other variables.
That’s just CONUS. Go overseas and it gets much more complicated.
Entitlements can be found in the Joint Federal Travel Regulation. I believe housing is in annex 10 or Chapter 10 or something like that.
