Military Housing - Military Times

Moving: Pay and allowances

Arranging advances

Service members with permanent change-of-station orders can receive advance pay and allowances with their commander’s approval. These include advances on basic pay and Basic Allowance for Housing. Members can receive up to three months of basic pay at either the old or new duty station.

Advance pay and housing allowances are repaid as paycheck deductions, normally beginning the month after the advance is drawn. With permission, repayment can be delayed up to three months.

Finance officials recommend asking for a minimum amount when requesting an advance for an overseas move. There is the potential for heavy losses due to exchange rate fluctuations, and the member is not compensated in the case of an advance.

Retiring and separating service members are not eligible for advance pay.

Contact: https://secureapp2.hqda.pentagon.mil/perdiem/jftr(ch1-ch10).pdf.

Dislocation allowance

Married service members receive a dislocation allowance when they relocate because other allowances usually fall short of the full cost of moving. It may be paid in advance.

The dislocation allowance may be authorized without a PCS in certain cases, such as proximity moves directed by the government.

As of Jan. 1, 2007, rates range from $757.71 to $3,798.55.

Single service members receive the dislocation allowance only when they are not assigned permanently to government quarters at their new base.

The allowance is not available to service members ordered from home to their first duty station; assigned to government quarters without family members at a new duty station; transferred to a nearby duty station, unless the service has authorized a local move of the member’s household goods as a direct result of the PCS; separating or retiring.

Contact: https://secureapp2.hqda.pentagon.mil/perdiem/jftr(ch1-ch10).pdf.

Stateside. Local finance offices issue advance housing allowances if money is needed for rental housing within the U.S. The allowances are in addition to any advance pay or dislocation allowance already received. Commanders must authorize the housing advance.

Service members moving anywhere in the continental U.S. and requesting this allowance usually draw one month’s worth of the Basic Allowance for Housing, so long as the advance payment does not exceed anticipated rental costs.

Three months’ advance housing allowance is the maximum amount that can be drawn; however, this is only under rare circumstances.

To get advance housing allowance, service members must already have found housing and must provide a copy of the rental agreement to document the housing costs. The advance may not be given more than three working days before or more than 30 days after the date that payment must be made under the agreement.

Overseas. Service members moving overseas can draw up to three months of Overseas Housing Allowance. In rare cases, larger advances are possible if a host nation’s economy dictates the need. Homeowners are not entitled to these advances.

MALT

Service members receive a monetary allowance in lieu of transportation, or MALT, when they drive to a new assignment. The amount is calculated using official mileage between the old and new duty stations.

MALT also is paid to service members going overseas if they drive from their stateside location to the port of embarkation for a transcontinental plane or ship and from the port of debarkation to the new duty station.

MALT for members on permanent change-of-station travel is 15 cents per mile if traveling alone, 17 cents with one family member, 19 cents with two and 20 cents with three or more.

Family members authorized to travel by car without the service member also receive MALT at the same rate. Family members traveling in a second vehicle during a PCS also are eligible for payment. No special authorization is required.

A third vehicle may be authorized under certain conditions.

Mileage information is maintained by each service and is available through local transportation offices. The actual distance driven might not equal the official distance.

Move-in housing allowance

A move-in housing allowance is available to members moving into their first quarters for an overseas assignment if they also receive Overseas Housing Allowance. There are three kinds of move-in housing allowance:

•Miscellaneous. This fixed-rate payment reflects average costs that incurred in a geographic region to make a home habitable. Rates change with inflation and currency exchange.

•Rent. This covers all reasonable rent-related expenses, which are fixed, one-time, nonrefundable charges, such as real estate agents’ fees for helping renters find housing.

•Security. This covers the expense for security-related enhancements when the quarters must be modified to minimize exposure to terrorist or criminal threat.

Did You Know?

Your monetary allowance in lieu of transportation for PCS travel rises with the number of family members in your car — 15 cents per mile if traveling alone, 17 cents with one family member, 19 cents with two and 20 cents with three or more.