thedrifter
03-07-06, 02:01 PM
One BAH for all
Single, married troops would get same rate
By Rick Maze
Times staff writer
A Pentagon commission's call to eliminate pay differences between married and single people addresses an issue that has rankled unmarried troops since the birth of the all-volunteer force - and would reverse policies that have been in effect for decades.
The most significant change would give the same rates of housing allowance to married and single people of the same grade. This would end a policy dating back to 1918 that assumes married people have greater housing needs than single people because their families require more room.
Equally dramatic is a proposal to give everyone in uniform some level of housing allowance, and then charge rent to those who live in government quarters, although it is unclear if this would apply equally to barracks and family housing. This would end a policy dating to 1878 under which the government pays housing allowances only when it does not provide free quarters.
Talk of charging fair-market rent for family quarters has surfaced periodically for two decades, although the sorry state of some on-base housing made military officials wary of the idea. But steady improvements in the quality of housing, and privatized military housing at many bases for which rent equal to the military housing allowance is required, may make a transition to paying to live in family housing less of a culture shock.
According to the Military Compensation Background Papers, a Pentagon publication tracing the history and purpose of pay, allowances and fringe benefits, housing allowances were formally established in 1878 to allow officers to obtain adequate housing when government quarters were unavailable.
Initially, payments depended on rank, not family status. Second lieutenants were allowed two rooms, generals 10. Family status came into play as part of the 1918 policy change. By 1922, this evolved into a formal system that paid from $17 to $20 per month for each authorized room, with married officers authorized more rooms than unmarried officers.
Enlisted members, who became eligible for housing allowances in 1915, initially received up to $4 a day and did not receive rates based on family status until 1940. It is only since 1949 that married enlisted members have been specifically authorized a housing allowance when government quarters are unavailable.
In a recent meeting with Military Times editors and reporters, Master Chief Petty Officer of the Navy Terry Scott endorsed the idea of equalizing housing allowances for married members and singles of the same rank.
"I would prefer to see a single BAH," Scott said. "The very root of many of our pay inequities and frustrations is that we treat married sailors and single sailors differently."
Scott said the lives of single and married people are "dramatically different" in the military, with a married sailor going home to an apartment at the end of a day when the ship is in port while a single sailor is forced to live on ship or in the barracks.
Steve Strobridge of the Military Officers Association of America, a retired Air Force colonel, was less enthusiastic, fearing that having one allowance for married and single members would undermine efforts to improve off-base housing for enlisted members.
"It would be wrong, dead wrong, to have a policy that results in a single major being paid an allowance allowing them to live in a bigger house than an E-7 who has four children," he said.
"We've been working hard to make adjustments in the standard on which Basic Allowance for Housing is paid so that a senior enlisted member can live in a single-family home," Strobridge said. "I don't see that happening if we decide to pay a single E-7 and a married E-7 the same amount."
Another aspect of the Pentagon committee's proposal to eliminate differences between married and single people would bring an end to the family separation allowance - created because the military was viewed as being unfriendly to families - with the payment possibly being rolled into some deployment-related compensation that would apply to single people as well as those with families.
Family separation allowance was created in 1963 to cover incidental expenses incurred when a service member was away from home, such as household or auto repairs, yard work or even higher expenses for telephone calls and mail.
The Bush administration tried, and failed, to divert money from the family allowance into other deployment or hardship pays in 2003, in an effort that ended up embarrassing White House and Pentagon officials because it would have cut pay for those deployed in combat zones.
Single, married troops would get same rate
By Rick Maze
Times staff writer
A Pentagon commission's call to eliminate pay differences between married and single people addresses an issue that has rankled unmarried troops since the birth of the all-volunteer force - and would reverse policies that have been in effect for decades.
The most significant change would give the same rates of housing allowance to married and single people of the same grade. This would end a policy dating back to 1918 that assumes married people have greater housing needs than single people because their families require more room.
Equally dramatic is a proposal to give everyone in uniform some level of housing allowance, and then charge rent to those who live in government quarters, although it is unclear if this would apply equally to barracks and family housing. This would end a policy dating to 1878 under which the government pays housing allowances only when it does not provide free quarters.
Talk of charging fair-market rent for family quarters has surfaced periodically for two decades, although the sorry state of some on-base housing made military officials wary of the idea. But steady improvements in the quality of housing, and privatized military housing at many bases for which rent equal to the military housing allowance is required, may make a transition to paying to live in family housing less of a culture shock.
According to the Military Compensation Background Papers, a Pentagon publication tracing the history and purpose of pay, allowances and fringe benefits, housing allowances were formally established in 1878 to allow officers to obtain adequate housing when government quarters were unavailable.
Initially, payments depended on rank, not family status. Second lieutenants were allowed two rooms, generals 10. Family status came into play as part of the 1918 policy change. By 1922, this evolved into a formal system that paid from $17 to $20 per month for each authorized room, with married officers authorized more rooms than unmarried officers.
Enlisted members, who became eligible for housing allowances in 1915, initially received up to $4 a day and did not receive rates based on family status until 1940. It is only since 1949 that married enlisted members have been specifically authorized a housing allowance when government quarters are unavailable.
In a recent meeting with Military Times editors and reporters, Master Chief Petty Officer of the Navy Terry Scott endorsed the idea of equalizing housing allowances for married members and singles of the same rank.
"I would prefer to see a single BAH," Scott said. "The very root of many of our pay inequities and frustrations is that we treat married sailors and single sailors differently."
Scott said the lives of single and married people are "dramatically different" in the military, with a married sailor going home to an apartment at the end of a day when the ship is in port while a single sailor is forced to live on ship or in the barracks.
Steve Strobridge of the Military Officers Association of America, a retired Air Force colonel, was less enthusiastic, fearing that having one allowance for married and single members would undermine efforts to improve off-base housing for enlisted members.
"It would be wrong, dead wrong, to have a policy that results in a single major being paid an allowance allowing them to live in a bigger house than an E-7 who has four children," he said.
"We've been working hard to make adjustments in the standard on which Basic Allowance for Housing is paid so that a senior enlisted member can live in a single-family home," Strobridge said. "I don't see that happening if we decide to pay a single E-7 and a married E-7 the same amount."
Another aspect of the Pentagon committee's proposal to eliminate differences between married and single people would bring an end to the family separation allowance - created because the military was viewed as being unfriendly to families - with the payment possibly being rolled into some deployment-related compensation that would apply to single people as well as those with families.
Family separation allowance was created in 1963 to cover incidental expenses incurred when a service member was away from home, such as household or auto repairs, yard work or even higher expenses for telephone calls and mail.
The Bush administration tried, and failed, to divert money from the family allowance into other deployment or hardship pays in 2003, in an effort that ended up embarrassing White House and Pentagon officials because it would have cut pay for those deployed in combat zones.