YOU ARE 100% OUT OF YOUR ELEMENT!
The OP has said little about the type of assignment orders this person is on, or where exactly his “duty location” actually is. Or what kind of orders the person is currently on. This “off base civilian work” could very well be TDY or TCS.
Yeah, but for most of us, a cite to the DoD is a little more than convincing than all-caps. Espcially a cite to the DoD that explains the policy, including the very reasonable idea that if BAH were dependent on where one lived, it would just provide an incentive for people to live in high-BAH zip codes.
Perhaps you have something supporting your claim, soldier?
All right, everything in this thread has been given to him and he’ll take care of it, ask any questions from the disbursing officer from there, though based on the info it sounds like he’s stuck with the lower pay. I do apologize for being so obtuse, and I appreciate both of your help and answers very much.
Not to be combative, but this is exactly the case. BAH is tied to duty station. Period. This is always the case and none of the orders you site change that. And your dependents have no effect on where your BAH is calculated from. How much you get? Yes. Location, no.
PCS means you are moving for good, hence the word “Permanent Change of Station.” So your BAH will change when you move.
TDY is temporary. So your BAH doesn’t change at home, but you might (almost always will) get additional funding for your temporary duty station.
AGR orders and entitlements (BAH is an entitlement) are seamless with active duty. There is no difference. Title 32, which deals with the guard might be different, I have no idea. The guard is like a different military sometimes.
TCS is a temporary change of a longer duration, but you can’t change your BAH then either.
Please, Kimmy, the ALL CAPS was in response to his all caps. I was making the same statement about all caps that you are.
And the cite from the DOD is from an FAQ. This is dealing with very “normal” duty assignments. Not something like being assigned to “off-base civilian” work. That FAQ does not apply to abnormal situations! Just look at the botton of that site to see just one of the many examples of other than normal situations. “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.”
My very first question was about the type of orders, whether or not the person has family, and whether or not the person actually has a lease for the expensive zip code or not.
I have seen all kinds of “special situations” that are not addressed in that simple FAQ. The OP would need to give up a lot more information for anyone to say for sure whether or not the officer can get paid for the expensive location.
But the one thing we can say for sure is this:
If the officer does NOT have a lease with a zip code in the expensive area, then he isn’t going to get paid for it. The lease and the other supporting documentation needs to be submitted with a 2142 to the Finance Office.
Not period.
It could be based on where your EFMP or special needs family member is located (per your link).
It could be based on an entirely different location or wherever you want if you are on a dependent restricted or all others tour.
It’s not always cut and dry. If the Army is making this guy work somewhere far off base, then they may very well pay him to live out there.
My apologies. I was using navy terms. :smack:
Everett and Bellevue WA have significant Navy presence.
I think you’re moving the goal posts here and tossing things up (dependents, AGR etc.) that have nothing to do with the question. And you mention obscure situations, (which I don’t think are correct). Either way, I think it’s obvious that your initial statement:
is incorrect.
Either way, the OP has the information he needs.
You know just enough to be dangerous. . .
Think about TDY Enroute. A Soldier’s duty location will be at his TDY location. But his BAH will not be. His BAH will be based on where his dependents are. He can move them to the new location, or leave them at the old one to move them later. In some cases, the dependents can be moved to the TDY location. The Army doesn’t pay for the move, but they will pay for the BAH.
I’ve also seen Soldiers on TCS orders overseas get paid housing for their TCS location after bringing their family over. Seen guys in Hawaii get deployed to Iraq and get paid for their apartment in Hawaii and their spouse’s (who went back home to Japan) apartment. Dual JFTR= and Dual OHA and Dual COLA.
Seen a lot of abnormal situations.
My point in that statement was that it won’t matter that he works in the more expensive area far away from base if he still lives right next to the base. If he doesn’t have a lease for the new area, then he has no leg to stand on.
If he has the lease to live in the more expensive area, an area in which the Army is making him work, then he can submit the documentation to finance. If that is where his place of duty is, then that is where he needs to be paid for. But I can’t see him getting paid for it if he doesn’t actually live there.
That describes the situation. He’s assigned somewhere between two duty stations, much closer to Expensive Station than to Cheap Station, in terms of both distance and living expenses. He lives close to where he works. He is the only military personnel working in that zip code. The military thinks that particular zip code belongs to Cheap Station and I was trying to ask if there was anything he could to challenge that, but it doesn’t appear to be the case. Not TDY or overseas.
Type in the zip code of his residence here:
http://www.defensetravel.dod.mil/site/bahCalc.cfm
Select his pay grade and click Calculate. If the amount that appears is the amount he is getting paid, then there is nothing he can do. It’s out of everyone’s hands at that point. If that is not what he’s getting, then bring the lease and supporting documentation to Finance.