BAS/COMRATS and questions

[brovowisky]

Hi I'm Ben.
I got out of the Corp 5 yrs ago and am currently looking at re-uping in October. I am getting married in May. I'm trying to find out all i can to put my girls mind at ease while slowly easing her in to the corp. I have put her in contact with USMC wives and they have helped alot.
I'm trying to find out, when you get married and do you get BAS Basic Allowance for Substance and COMRATS, or just BAS. I'm to find out so i can tell her right thing.
I am also curious about what regs. have changed ie. PFT, new phyicall requirements, Barracks, or any new things that have really changed.
Thank you for any I can get.
Ben

[Sgt Leprechaun]

You'll get BAS no matter what these days, while on Active duty. The 2009 rate is 326.87. It's non taxable. No longer any such thing as 'comrats' per se.

You'll also get BAH, dependening on what your duty station is.

[DIBLO7]

Like Leprechaun said everyone gets BAS (which IS comrats) the only difference is if you're single and live in the barracks you'll get DMR (meal card) which takes away that BAS.

[tampabay3990]

i know this is an extremely old post but i had a question on this subject. do you rate BAS if you are married and your spouse does not live with you? such as a 2 year unaccompanied tour to oki.

[tampabay3990]

?

[BR34]

If you live in the barracks you won't receive it UNLESS there's no chow hall available. If you're living in the barracks in Oki you won't be getting BAS.

[Alisium]

If you're a geo-bachelor you get a little something something to support Suzie and Jody at home, no?

[BR34]

No, because BAS is meant to support the Marine not the family. He will get FSA if he's separated for more than 30 days.

[BR34]

And here's a question to the PFC, how the hell did you end up with a 2 year unaccompanied tour? Is this your first duty station?

[Sgt Leprechaun]

Easy answer: All active duty enlisted rec'v BAS nowadays. (Unless a drilliing guardsman, reservist, etc). Here's the link:

http://www.defenselink.mil/militarypay/pay/bas/

So, as I read that, you'll continue to draw BAS, but have to pay for your meals in the chow hall. That includes paying for MRE's while in the field, too. (That money is deducted from your pay automatically).

Family Sep allowance kicks in after 30 days, but it's less than BAS, which is a fixed rate for enlisted and fixed for officers. It doesn't change based on duty location or assignment.

[MD8724]

Some units on Oki get BAS regardless if they live in the barracks or not. Not sure if you are there yet or not, but what unit are you with/going to ? If you accept a meal card, then you lose your BAS. You will get your base pay, I believe around 150ish a month in Cola, 250 a month in Seperation pay, and you will get BAH for whatever zip code you wife resides in.

You guys are confusing as hell with the "you always rate bas, but if you get a meal card it goes away". That means you dont always get BAS.....

As for his tour, it's always 2 years unaccompanied tour if it's their first duty station. You would think they would send the single guys to Okinawa, but I guess they don't always think hard enough to do that.

Now, I do recall the tours in Okinawa were supposed to get cut down to 12-18 months, like, a year ago, so I don't know what ever happened with that.

[maytwentyone]

I know these posts are super old, but I am just looking for some advice. I'm a LCpl who was put on midcrew(0000-0900 or even later some days) for 3 months to temporarily replace a coworker. I was told by another Marine who worked the same shift to submit my comrats paperwork asap because night crew and mid crew are eligible for comrats and the process may take a month or two. I went to S1, got the form, and routed it through my chain of command. I followed up every week with my admin and they kept telling me the same thing, that it was waiting on a signature from a SNCO. Long story short, I was very patient and given the runaround for 3 months and was told that because I only worked that shift for 3 months, my chain of command was not going to approve it. 3 months is still a significant amount of time and money. I could not make it to the chow hall due to my work schedule for those 3 months and would buy my own food(rice, vegetables, and chicken to steam in my rice cooker). Some people in my chain of command argued that technically, I could have made it to two meals a day, but that also applies to night crew as well, but per the order, they definitely rate comrats. My question is if this is a reasonable issue to request mast for. I know of other Marines in my command who have been backpaid for 1 month and 4 months of comrats. I'm also not one of those people who try to work the system to get what they want so I don't think I'm asking for something unrealistic. I don't have a problem with the chowhall, but I was not able to make it there for those 3 months.

[Phantom Blooper]

Get all your ducks in a row.....paperwork...orders....work schedule....statements from other Marines that received compensation for a shorter amount of time etc.....and then request mast if your concern is legitimate. That is hat it I there for.......but make sure you use your COC.

[PJones64]

BEtter to add to a 2009 one than start one's own.

[Phantom Blooper]

BEtter to add to a 2009 one than start one's own.
Saves bandwidth...........

[maytwentyone]

Ok, thank you very much. I don't have orders because I was just thrown onto midcrew on such short notice but I do have logbook entries to prove I worked that shift for 3 months. I'll have to get those statements from the other two Marines. Thanks again.