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BAH Equality

I could not possibly disagree with Sgt. 1st Class Harold K. Lewis more [“Raising single soldiers’ BAH may leave married ones behind,” Back Talk, May 5].

Why does a married person deserve more? Sgt. 1st Class Lewis made a choice to get married and have five children. I, on the other hand, have made a choice to be single. I should not be penalized for that choice, and Sgt. 1st Class Lewis should not be rewarded for his. Your basic allowance for housing rate should reflect your rank and nothing else.

The argument that BAH should somehow be tied to time-in-service is way off the mark. They do that with our base pay, and that is how we end up with a high-speed E-5 with three years in service being in charge of — but getting paid less than — a low speed E-4 with eight years in service.

The military is not a social welfare system in which you get paid more the more kids you have. We need to move to performance-based pay that does not allow subordinates to make more than their superiors, and a single BAH rate for each rank, regardless of marital status, which is only dependent on location.

Staff Sgt. Mathew Carson

Manhattan, Kan.