BAH, barracks cost?? plz read, is complicated.?

Question

I will join the navy. My wife wants to live in NY (to take care of her aunt that has cancer). If they send me to a base (exp. Tx or FL) and i live in the barracks, without her, do I have to pay something for living in the base? Because the money of the BAH will be used for her living expenses in NY. I'm a bit confused...plz help me.

Actually, her aunt is the owner of the building, so we/she won't have to pay rent.

Answer 1

Alright here you go. It all depends... I know that sounds vague but there are many variables. For instance. If you are stationed on a ship and your wife lives in NY. Then yes you will be what is considered a Geographical Bachelor. You will have to live on the ship while your wife collects the BAH alloted to you by the geographic area. The BAH prices I will leave up to you to find out through research. However if you are stationed at a shore command, depending on the shore command, they will have barracks for you to stay in. But if the barracks are full and your allowed to live out in town then no. Most all places will have barracks for you to stay in and allow you to collect BAH for your wife. Now other options some shore commands have is allowing you to stay in what is known as "fleet returnie" barracks or "Bachelors Quarters" (BEQ) that are like a hotel but will come with some out of pocket exspense. I will bet most likely you will have barracks you will be staying in and you will be able to collect BAH. So no worries. Navy knows how to take care of their own. Do some reseach on "Geographical Bachelor" and see what comes up. Also another thing for you to check out is what BAH you will be getting. Meaning if you are stationed in San Diego and your wife is in NY, then you will probably be collecting NY BAH rather than San Diego BAH. Understand? I am not 100% on this though. Ask around and see what comes up. My educated guess is you will be getting the BAH where your wife is living not you. I had a buddy who was in hawaii with me and his wife was living in Georgia. He was collecting BAH from Hawaii which is close to doubled of what Georgia's BAH was. After time the navy caught on or changed something or whatever anyway regardless they had to pay the difference back to the navy. I think it was some where along the lines of 6,000 bucks or something. Anyway. I hope this helped.

Answer 2

ALL accompanied orders you receive will require BAH based on YOUR location, regardless of where your family resides. The Navy has pretty much done away with Geo Bachelors, meaning you will NOT be allowed to live in the barracks, and even if by some small chance you could, you would have to pay the per diem rate.

So, bottom line, if your family chooses not to accompnay you on PCS orders, you will be maintain two hosueholds on your duty station's BAH. since TX and FL get a very low amount of BAH(relatively speaking) it could be a HUGE financial hardship if she stays in NY, where the cost of living is much higher.

Answer 3

Based on the regulations, YES ...You could be elligible but it is not guaranteed.

Try these web sites - it might give you more insight on what is allowed.

http://www.afsachapter300.org/handbook.pdf

http://www.defenselink.mil/militarypay/pay/bah/02_types.html

https://secureapp2.hqda.pentagon.mil/perdiem/bahfaq.html

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 PCS orders, 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.

Answer 4

The term we use is a "Geographical Bacholar". You would recieve your BAH for the location where your family resides. You will be allowed to stay in barracks facilities on base. Just like if you were attached to a ship you would still have a place to sleep. I warn you being a GB is hard on your family especially if your wife is bearing the burden of caring for another. Depending on the situation you might try and bring your wife and aunt to your duty station. If you can prove that you supply 50% or more of your aunts income, combined with her cancer, might be able to get her onto your page 2 as an adult dependent. Good luck whichever path you wind up on.

Answer 5

You know what though, it really does depend on the situation. Both Annie and Maggs' husband could be right depending on how the Navy judges your case.

When my DH went to Navy recruiting and I stayed behind to sell our house we got BAH for his duty station but were expected to use that money to maintain two households because we were the ones who choose to be apart. He would have had to pay for a BEQ room in the Air Force barracks if we hadn't found an apartment out in town that cost less. Maintaining two house holds on pay for 1 was hard even though we were getting E-5 and then E-6 pay during that time.

The other time we were separated was due to the boat changing home ports. That time because the Navy caused the separation he was considered a geo bachelor. We got BAH for his new duty station AND he got a room on base free of charge.

So really, what you're entitled to depends on how the military sees your situation.

Answer 6

If your wife decides to stay in NY,

Then you will be paid BAH, based on where you are stationed ( except while in training and Tech School ).

You will not be allowed to live on base in the barracks.

The military is only going to either provide housing or BAH, not both.

The exceptions being:

During Basic
During Tech Schools
During deployments

You will have to use part of the BAH, to rent a place to live for yourself.

Answer 7

Basically, you would get a housing allowance based on your rank for the location of the base you are assigned to. However, since your wife will not be accompanying you and you are newly enlisted, there is a chance they may require to live in the dorms, in which case you will not get any housing allowance at all. You can not live in base housing/barracks and collect BAH..it is one or the other.. Keep in mind, that money will have to pay for you to live off base..rent, utilities, etc..and as a newly enlisted it is not going to be very much. Even military of higher ranks find it nearly impossible to support two seperate homes on military pay. The best thing to do is speak to your supervisor during in processing...they can explain it all in detail to you, make sure you have the correct paperwork, etc.

Answer 8

http://usmilitary.about.com/od/housingallowance/l/blbahrules.htm

This link should help. Good luck, God Bless You

Answer 9

you can check with Mr Bush