Did anyone realise marriage pay in the military is not protect?

Question

It has come to my attention that is the Army chooses to punish the soldier for article 15 ect...they can keep the marriage pay without any notice. I strongly recommend you contact your state representives, congress, White House ect to help protect the marriage pay. Families should not be punished. That money while not a large amount can provide food ect for the children. No family should go thru that stress and financial hardship. Families of soldiers should have a certain amount of security. While the army can punish the soldier they should not punish the family. I"m certain this applies to all military groups. Thankyou

Forgive me I"m new at this. My son in law was being constantly harassed by 2 sargents. They got in trouble for coming to his house several times after medical treatments for his spine, injured during a nite jump. They would peek in the windows and when in they cussed him out in front of his family. They accused him of not being where he was supposed to...the details still have not been given. When he went to the sargents for the why's that was when he was demoted. Then later the Article 15 went thru. And yes they can take the housing or marriage pay...whatever you call it. What I"m saying is the army owns you, your family needs protection because there would be no marriage pay if the soldier wasn't married and didn't need it for housing and food. This is a horrible situation to be in. I want to make sure other families of soldiers do not suffer thru this. That is why I have involved the senate and congress ect. Our State Senator is investigating this case right now.

It is BAH (housing) my daughter and son in law always refer to it as Marriage pay. Sorry.

Answer 1

There is no such thing as "marriage pay". However, the soldier does get benefits such as BAH to cover the cost of housing and such. Your daughter isn't entitled to anything. That's the honest truth of the military. All the pay received is for the soldier.

If your son-in-law is in trouble, the correct punishment would come through an Article 15. However, I've never known anyone to lose their pay as punishment for anything done in an Article 15(just in my experience). I'd have to check further on it. An Article 15 is the baseline form of punishment. The only lower would be to receive a counseling statement.

Why is your son-in-law letting these Sergeants into his house?? Unless it's a scheduled visit, they're not allowed to just drop by. They only time in house inspections occur is if there's been reports of violence, drugs or so on in the house. For that, they'd be going above an Article 15 level. I think there's many things that you don't know or understand about this story.

As for taking his pay, I have news for you, they are authorized to withhold a soldiers pay. Yes, they do own you and you know this when you sign the dotted line. My hubby along with another soldier "lost" some tools after a field exercise. They were never recovered. The military (government) took a portion of his and the other soldiers pay for 2 pay periods. It's all very legal. Family or not, it doesn't matter. There was also an incident of a lost radio in the unit one time. The soldier that was signed for that radio was going to lose his entire pay to cover the cost of the lost radio. He was married and would have had NO money for the month. Just because you're married, doesn't mean you get special treatment. If you owe for punishment or to replace a lost item, the government is going to get their money.

I suggest you get more info on the situation. There seems to be much about the action being taken that you don't know or understand. I'm sorry your daughter is going through this. If your son-in-law is truly being harassed by these Sergeants, there is a proper chain of command to seek help through. He can also see the Chaplain. There are regulations and procedures for everything in the Army.

EDIT: I just read a couple other replies. I see that they are allowed to take pay for Article 15 action. I guess we've just never been exposed to someone having that action taken against them. But, that gives you your answer, they are allowed to do it as a form of punishment.

Answer 2

there is no such thing as marriage pay. i'm not going to discuss that because other people have already broke that down. basically all the money the soldier gets is what he's entitled too. he does get BAH for having dependents if that's what you are talking about. my husband got an article 15 and they took almost $950 so i know how that goes. but he got into trouble and he has to pay. it sucks that our family had to as well. however, if your son in laws sergeants are visiting at his house its probably because he is failing to report for duty and not being at his appointed place of duty. that is punishable under the ucmj. not saying that your son in law is avoiding duty, but some soldiers skip out on formations, ride sick call and their injuries to get out of work and go home to hang out all day. they shouldn't be harassing your family and peeking into windows. it is very unprofessional for them to talk in front of the family with vulgar language also. i don't think you have a strong case to present to our state officials. there isn't much they can do.

Answer 3

There is no "marriage pay". There is Basic Allowance for Housing with and without dependents. Those allowances are not reduced when a soldier receives an Article 15. I suggest you do a little research and try and get the entire story from you son. He didn't get an Article 15 for innocently asking "why?".

Answer 4

I look at it this way...if my husband did something to get demoted or fired from a civilian job then the family would lose money. The same applies here. I have to be honest about something here. I have not seen or heard of anyone my husband (or our many friends in other units and other branches) knows that have been unjustly punished like that (losing pay etc). Not saying it can't happen but it sounds odd that they'd peek in his windows etc. But if it is true then he needs to go higher than them and that probably won't do any good anyway.
So sorry even as an army wife I won't contact anyone to protect that pay...that's my husband's job and he knows he'd have hell to pay at home if he lost it!


Ijust read in another of your answers that your soninlaw didn't speak up about being overpaid and then asked why the overpayment was taken out....well gee that's why he got an Article 15! Whenever we got overpaid ANYTHING at all I made me husband march up to finance so we didn't look shady! He's giving the impression of being a thief (keeping what isn't rightfully yours falls in that category in my opinion) He needs to just take his punishment and if ever put in that situation again then he needs to let finance know.

Answer 5

What was the article 15 for? If it was for theft or anything else like that, then he has to pay it back. It's just like being a civilian, you break the law you pay fines and restitution. No difference. For those that don't know what Article 15 is, it's almost like a misdemeanor. It's Non Judicial Punishment. He did something against the military standards.

Answer 6

So, where did you dig this false information up?

A breakdown of a typical married soldier (US Army) is:

Base pay - Monthly pay for work done
OHA (if stationed overseas) - to supplement the high cost of living
COLA - Cost of Living Allowance to supplement the regular income
Seperate rations - provide to a married solider who cannot eat in the Dining Facility
BAH - Housing Allowance to be used if residing off post to support family

When a service member is given an Art 15/Captain's Mast, the money is taken from the Base Pay.

Please at least TRY to get your information correct.

And why should we write to Congress because a service member was punished for breaking the law?

Answer 7

Um, I have been in for 14 years, married twice now, and I have never heard of marriage pay. When you are punished by Article 15 they take from your base pay salary. I know, I've had one. There is no such thing as marriage pay.

Answer 8

You don't get paid for being married, the extra money is to pay for housing and food for YOU if you don't live in the barracks, not your wife. You do get paid at the with dependant rate, but if you had a child living somewhere else under the age of 18, you could receive it also

Answer 9

i do no longer recognize why human beings hate gay marriage. Marriage to a member of the choice intercourse is as foreign places as gay marriage is to a heterosexual. And it would stop precise there. while you're working, paying taxes, and doing all your section as an American citizen, then confident, dammit, you deserve the comparable rights as all of us else. Why do individuals have the prefer to make this this way of stressful subject while hassle-free experience is staring you contained in the face. Sheesh!!

Answer 10

Why did he get an article 15 to begin with?