BAH fo single Marines w/o dependants

[KANTgetRIGHT]

I am a single, newly promoted SGT living in shit-hole barracks in southern Maryland. I am trying to get my facts strait before I bombard my chain of command with the BAH own Right request. Let me tell you, This place blows!!! I have only been here 6 months, and I have been sick most of the days I've lived here. I'm told that there has been talk of a renovation for the last 5 years, but not one light bulb has been changed, nor has a single paint brush been seen. It goes much deeper han that, You can taste the lead as you walk into the rooms, smell the mold growing (no matter how many times I scrub it away) The water coming from the shower is similar to cold baby-oil, the water from the sink tastes like it could dissolve nails. It is definitely not sanitary. I am also in a platoon of 19 Sgts, 5 Lcpls 1 Pvt, and 1Snco; all of which are married except 5 or 6, and all live far, far away from here. That gets into the subject of other married Sgts abiding by a completely different sets of rules, and always carrying that superiority complex with them.

The other side of it is, I have a girlfriend, soon to be fiance' , and I see it as the smart thing would be to get a place with her, see how I adapt and react to living with her, then decide on whether or not it will proceed to marriage. Its just as easy to have a chat with your command, tell them things didnt work out, tell them you want to move back into the barracks, No Harm , No Foul!!
As Opposed to getting married, then finally, after being forced to tie that knot when you weren't exactly ready yet, (so you can recieve BAH), as so many Marines do. Then come to realize that they didnt want a wife, just the freedom of owning your own place, and actually be AWAY FROM WORK, but in the end all you have is a failed marriage at 23.


I'm looking for some advice, and some helpful knowledge from anyone willing to assist.

If you're analyzing this and the question you're asking is about my maturity level or job skills/ performance, all I have to say is 4.8/4.9 Squad Leader as a PFC and Lcpl through 3 deployments.


Thanks in advance.

[KrashKatz]

Sounds like your at the birf.

[BarracksMarine125]

I totally agree with everthing said above. Living in the barracks is like living in a prison. Cinderblock walls, crowding, theft, and small cramped living spaces are what we live with every day. I'm a NCO in the United States Marine Corps and i'm tired of PFC's checking into housing better than i've had in my entire life. I've been living in this shit hole for almost 3 years now and I also hear everyday from BKS managers how they are talking to people to change the BKS, but not a god damned thing has changed since I got here.

Semper FI
I love this shit

[TexasSue]

HQMC mandates 95% barracks occupancy before they start approving BAH packages unless you've got extenuating circumstances like joint custody of a child, etc. That probably doesn't really help you much but that's the way the order is written.

[DevilNuts]

I was able to get BAH as a Cpl on pendleton when the baracks got filled up. It's a rough situationbut to touch on one of the things you said:

The other side of it is, I have a girlfriend, soon to be fiance' , and I see it as the smart thing would be to get a place with her, see how I adapt and react to living with her, then decide on whether or not it will proceed to marriage. Its just as easy to have a chat with your command, tell them things didnt work out, tell them you want to move back into the barracks, No Harm , No Foul!!
As Opposed to getting married, then finally, after being forced to tie that knot when you weren't exactly ready yet, (so you can recieve BAH), as so many Marines do. Then come to realize that they didnt want a wife, just the freedom of owning your own place, and actually be AWAY FROM WORK, but in the end all you have is a failed marriage at 23.

1) Once you get BAH, it is reasonable to assume you will keep BAH forever and ever unless you screw it up and get it taken away from you. The command cannot force you (or so I understand it) to abandon household goods you have accrued while on BAH, and cannot store it while they put you back into the barracks- so you can use the "household goods" section of the "own right" request whatever station you check into from there on out. BAH effectively doubles your pay (or pretty close to it) and that is alot of money that some units don't feel like spending.

2) Don't get married to move out of the barracks. That is plain F'ing stupid. If you are going to get married, do it for the right reason. Don't be that guy.

3) Request Mast is a pretty durn good way to get your barracks fixed. I guarantee it.

[technomage1]

This is a fight for all the services. The reason dorms/barracks are cruddy is because the money for dorms/barracks comes from the operations budget, not the housing budget. Congress stipulates that military installations won't touch the housing budget, but the ops budget is routinely raided for money. A rennovation will be scheduled, money programmed for it, and then the money will be taken to operate the rest of the base. This is also why the shirt has control over the dorms and not the housing office.

The way out - create a line item in the housing budget called "unaccompanied housing". This way it will protect it from being taken for ops.

You may think that you have no power over this, but talk to your chain of command, talk to your congresspeople when they come to tour the base, write letters. Above all, as you get promoted up through the system, don't forget what it was like and fight for better conditions.

As far as your current situation - TexasSue is right in a way, the 95% occupancy rating is the same throughout the services. Other services differ on who lives in dorms/barracks - for example, in the AF an E5 is authorized to move off base. Not being a Marine I have no idea what your service rules are regarding this, I'd love to know. As far as the DoD, the JFTR states that single E7s may not be forced to live on base, so there is a way out - eventually.

DevilNuts is incorrect, you can be forced to move back into dorms/barracks. I've seen it happen to an E3 who got divorced. He had to put his stuff into storage.

I think you're absolutely right, as an NCO it burns to see a married junior enlisted get better housing just because they're married. It's just wrong, and should be fixed.

Your best way out is to put together a package for BAH and hope for the best. Good luck!