Navy BAH or on base housing?

Question

My husband is going to enlist in the Navy in a couple of months. I've read a little bit about on base housing and BAH, but I don't know much. When does my family qualify to recieve BAH or housing on base? Do we have to wait until he finishes basic? Or after training for whatever job he chooses? Thanks ahead of time for your answers.

I have thought of joining myself, but I have a daughter. One of us needs to be able to take care of her.

Answer 1

he qualifies for BAH immediately, as soon as he gets to Boot Camp. It will be based on YOUR location during Boot and A school. After that, it will be based on his Duty Station.

waiting lists for on base housing vary by location, paygrade and bedroom entitlement and can be as little as one day to as long as 2 years or more.

BAH is based on the average RENTAL cost of what the Navy would offer you.. so you would qualify for a 2 BR apartment, since you have one child. if he is an E1-E4, it will be crappy dollar wise and may not be enough to secure adequate(read nice , and safe) housing on the economy.

Answer 2

When deciding to take or decline MIL housing I say always get on the list for housing because there is usually a waiting list. That way if you find that it is too expensive to live off base you can accept the mil housing when it comes available. If you do choose to rent out in town make sure that your lease has a military clause, that states that you can get out of your lease if your husband receives orders to change duty stations or if mil housing comes available. Sometimes it is better to take the BAH and live off base if you can find a decent place for a low price and can keep the utilities down. But if there is nothing like that available in the area Mil housing is the way to go because BAH is really only made to cover about 80% of what it costs to live out in town when you add up the rent + utilities. Check with the housing office on the base he will be attached to they can answer a lot of questions before you even get there. Last have him ask first before you go there if he is eligeble for BAH during boot camp. If not you need to plan to live at home or stay where you are. I don't think he will be eligeble because it is only a 3 month school. Ususaly they will only move you if the school or assignment is over 1 year, or if you are PCSing. 3 months is too short to even get a home and get settled before you have to move again. I just want to make sure you realize how little he would be making as an E-1. I married my husband when he was an E-4 and we struggled. I can't even imagine how you can make it on an E-1 pay. You will most likely need a job. When he does get his 1st duty station go to the FFSC ( FLeet and Famils Service Center) they can help you get a good job. They even help you write your resume. Hope this was helpful to you. We have lived all over the world off base and in base housing.

Answer 3

also something others havent mentioned is that alot of military bases now have privatized housing. the base housing is owned by a private developer. if thats the case at the base you go to your rent +basic utilities (electric, water, gas, trash pickup) are exactly what your BAH is and its automatically deducted. The AF base Im currently at is going privatized next month. The E5 with dependent rate is $1144 a month. so thats what our rent and utilities are. An E1 living in the same size house only pays $980 a month and an O3 pays $1290........other ranks are of course different amounts those are just amounts i pulled randomly off the BAH chart......basically sometimes if your low ranking even privatized housing is better than off base because its based on your bah (average cost of a 3 br house off base here is $1400+ utilities, 3 br apt is around $1100+utilities in good neighborhoods) so on this particular base unless you are E7+ or O4+ its cheaper to stay on base unless you take subpar housing in a bad neighborhood

Answer 4

The two answers you got so far seemed to conflict, so I just want to clarify. I think that if he was single, he wouldn't get BAH until he was finished with basic training. But since he's married, he'll get it during basic training too, since you have to live somewhere while he's in basic training. The US Navy does a pretty good job of taking care of the families of its sailors.

You might have the option of getting housing on base instead, but they might not have room, so you might get put on a waiting list for that.

I think that's how it works. But he should probably double check all this stuff with his recruiter.

Answer 5

Automatically he will get BAH for you when he enlists.He will get paid BAH depending on the BAH rate of your area. After he is done w/ training, he will get stationed somewhere and you will be able to join him. The BAH then changes to the BAH rate of that area. You then choose if you want to live off base and get the BAH money to rent home or buy home, or live on base and the whole BAH amount is deducted from his paycheck.

Answer 6

He needs to enlist in the Mens Department of the Navy...The United States Marine Corps, OORAH!. For the marines, I had to complete bootcamp, in order for me to get BAH, which stands for basic housing allowance, and changes depending on the geographical area depending on the cost of living in that area. Like out here in california its $1350 per month but in Pensacola, FL I think it was only $700 per month? BAH is a housing allowance on top of his wages for his rank, and time in service. Service members that are not married, are pretty much forced to live in government quarters ( the barracks) and do not rate BAH, unless they have special privledges, warranted by each command on a case to case basis, i.e. the barracks is full and there is no more room, then they start handing out BAH even if the senior service member isnt married. I dont believe you will have base housing privledges while he is still is bootcamp either, since it is not a permanent duty station, and nobody knows if he will make it through boot camp. If he washes out, which I've heard is fairly easy compared to USMC's bootcamp, then what would be the point of living on base for two weeks, and then having to move,because he failed bootcamp?

A word of advice. Depending on his MOS (job description) he might have a total of 3 different temporary duty stations where he will have to go to school. I had two schools in my line of work, each on different coast of the U.S.. He will have the right to move his family to that location, and live out in town and collect BAH for that area. But the cost of moving will be an out of pocket expense, non reimburseable. By the time he graduates his final school, he is entitled to move his family out to his permanent duty station, on the set rate that the USMC has for moving from your "home of record" (or the address where you first enlisted) to the duty station. They will pay 1/2 up front and the other half about a month after you complete your move and you must have the receipts from the weight scales if you move yourself with u-haul, penske, etc. this is called a DITY move or do it yourself move, and requires that you take a two hour class before hand. Or you can opt to have the Marine Corps hire a moving company to move all your belongings free of charge, but you will receive no money, for the moving company gets the profit. We saved about $1,000 moving ourselves, but all of our belongins fit into two uhaul trailers that we towed with two vehicles some 2,000 miles. you will not be reimbursed for the money that you spent when you moved to his three different temporary duty stations.

another thing is, as soon as he graduates bootcamp you are eligible for the free health care. Notice its your HEALTH CARE that is free, not the DENTAL. Dental you have to pay extra for and comes out of his check automatically every month if you opt for it.

My advice to you is, you too should join the service, because you both will rate BAH even though you could conceivably live under one roof.