US Military Housing, Barracks, and Housing Allowance

US Military Housing, Barracks, and Housing AllowanceUS Military Housing, Barracks, and Housing AllowanceFree, or nearly free, housing is given to everyone in the military. But how they provide housing depends on your marital status, dependents, and rank. Military Housing for Married Couples or Those with Dependents If you are married and living with your spouse or minor dependents, you will either live in on-base housingor be given a monetary allowance called BAH (Basic Allowance for Housing) to live off-base. The amount of BAH depends on your rank, your location, and whether or bedrngnis you have dependents.If you are in the Guard or Reservesand entitled to a housing allowance, you will receive a reduced BAH, called BAH Type II, anytime you are on active duty for less than 30 days. If you are on orders to serve on active duty for 30 days or mora, youll receive the full housing allowance tarif, the same as active duty personnel. If you have dependents, you will receive the housin g allowance, even when staying in the barracks at basic training and/or technical school/AIT/A-School. This is because the military makes it mandatory for you to provide adequate housing for your dependents. This will be included as part of your regular paycheck, half on the first of the month and half on the last duty day of the month. For basic training and/or technical school/AIT/A-School, you will receive the BAH amount for the location where your dependent(s) are residing. However, if you are not married and/or divorced and are paying child support, you do not receive full-rate BAH while living in the barracks. In this case, special rules apply, and the member receives BAH-DIFF.Special rules apply for military-married-to-military couples.Unlike basic pay, BAH is an allowance, not a pay, and is therefore not taxable. Military Housing for Singles If you are single, you can expect to spend the next few years of your military service residing on-base in the dormitory, or barrac ks. Policies concerning single military members living off-base at government expense vary from service to service, and even from base to base, depending on the occupancy rate of the barracks/dormitories on the particular base. Army policy allows single members in the paygrade of E-6 and above to live off base at government expense. However, at some bases, E-5s are allowed to move off base at government expense, depending on the barracks occupancy rates of that base.The Air Force policy generally allows single E-4s, with more than three years of service, and above to reside off-base at government expense.The Navy policy allows single sailors in the paygrades of E-5 and above, and E-4s with more than four years of service to reside off base and receive a housing allowance. The Marines allow single E-6s and above to reside off base at government expense. On some bases, depending on the barracks occupancy rate, single E-5s, and even some E-4s are authorized to reside off base. Dormi tories If your recruiter promised you condos, youre out of luck. However, all of the services have implemented plans to improve single housing (dormitories/barracks) for enlisted personnel. The Air Force was the first service to get started on the program and are arguably ahead of the other services. All airmen, outside of basic training and technical school are now entitled to a private room. The Air Force started with remodeling barracks into a concept called one-plus-one, which provided a private room, a small kitchen, and a bathroom/shower shared with one other person. The Air Force has now upgraded their program using a concept called Dorms-4-Airmen. All new Air Force dormitories (except basic training and technical school) are now designed using this concept. Dormitories under this program are four bedroom apartments. Airmen have a private room and private bath and share a kitchen, washer and dryer, and living room with three other airmen. The Armys standard is a two bedroom apartment, designed for two Soldiers. Each soldier gets a private bedroom, and theyshare a kitchen, bathroom, and living room. The Navy had a serious problem when this initiative started. Thousands of their junior sailors were living on ships, even when their assigned ships were in port. To construct enough barracks on Navy base to provide single rooms for all of behauptung sailors would cost a fortune. The Navy solved this problem by getting permission from Congress to use private industry to construct and operate privatized housing for lower-ranking single Sailors. Like the Army, this design is a two-bedroom apartment. Each Sailor will have a private bedroom, a private bathroom, and share a kitchen, dining area, and living room with another Sailor. However, under the Navys Homeport Ashore initiative, Sailors assigned to ships which are in port must share a bedroom until additional funding becomes available to build new complexes. Like privatized family housing the Sailor would pa y the complex management monthly rent (which is equal to their housing allowance). The rent covers all utilities and rental insurance. The plan calls for the apartment complexes to include fitness facilities, media centers, and technology centers. The Marines have taken a different route. The Marine Corps believes that lower-ranking enlisted Marines living together is essential to discipline, unit cohesion, and esprit de corps. Under the Marine Corps program, junior Marines (E-1 to E-3) share a room and a bathroom. Marines in the pay grades of E-4 and E-5 are entitled to a private room. Dormitory rooms are normally subject to two fonts of inspections First, there is the normal, or periodic inspection which may or may not be announced in advance. This is where the commander or First Sergeant (or other designated person) inspect your room to make sure you are abiding by the standards (bed made, trash empty, room clean, etc.) The second type of inspection is called a Health and Welfare Inspection. This type of inspection is always unannounced, often occurs about 200 A.M., and is comprised of an actual search of the dormitory rooms for contraband (drugs, guns, knives, etc.) At times, these HWIs are accompanied by a randomurinalysis test, looking for evidence of drug abuse. Some services/bases allow you to use your own furniture. Others are very strict about using the provided Government furniture, only. Even if you are required to use Government furniture, you can have your own stereo, television, or computer system. All in all, fruchtwein single enlisted people look forward to the day when they can move out of the dormitory. Moving Out At fruchtwein locations, single members can elect to move out of the dormitory and get a place off-base at their own expense. That means the government will not give them BAH (Housing Allowance), nor will the government give them a food allowance. Unless you get a roommate (or two) it can be hard to make ends meet living off ba se with just your base pay. By law, the services cannot allow single members to move off base at government expense unless the base-wide dormitory occupancy rate exceeds 95 percent. That means over 95 percent of all dormitory rooms on the base must have people living in them before anyone can be allowed to move out of the dormitories and receive a housing allowance. The wrinkle is that space is allocated to specific units, and your unit may be overcrowded while others have space available. As a result, the base-wide occupancy rate is less than 95 percent, and you wont be authorized to move off-base. When the base-wide occupancy rate exceeds 95 percent, the offer to move off-base is based on rank. You may not be allowed to move as those with a higher rank move out, and the occupancy rate drops below 95 percent. You could still be stuck on-base, with a roommate.The solution to this problem is to periodically reallocate dormitory spaces, but most bases are reluctant to tackle the proje ct any more often than every five years or so. This mismanaged system is a source of frustration among single military members. On-Base Housing Most places have limited on-base housing, so there is usually a waiting list (sometimes, more than one year) To qualify for on-base housing, you must be residing with a dependent (in most cases, that means spouse or minor children). The number of bedrooms youll be authorized depend on the number and age of the dependents residing with you. Some bases have very, very, nice housing on other bases, the housing barely qualifies for slum status. Utilities (trash, water, gas, electric) are normally free. Cable TV and phones are not. Furniture is normally not provided (although many bases have loan closets, which will temporarily loan you furniture). Appliances, such as stoves and refrigerators, are usually provided. Many on-base houses even have dishwashers. Clothes washers and dryers are usually not provided, but most units at least in the States have hookups. Additionally, many bases have laundromats located close to the housing area. Overseas, many housing units are Condo-Style, and there is a laundry room with washers and dryers located in each stairwell. Government Family Housing The inside of occupied housing units are not normally inspected as dormitories are. They may be inspected without notice if the commander receives any safety or sanitary problem reports. The outside of the housingis an entirely different matter. All of the services are pretty strict about dictating exactly how the outside of the house and yard will be maintained. Most of them employ personnel who will drive by each and every housing unit once perweekand write tickets for any discrepancies noted. Receive too many tickets in too short a period, and you will be requested to move off-base. In the states, most on-base family housing units are duplexes, or sometimes fourplexes. For officers and more senior enlisted members, on-base family housing in the states are usually either duplexes or single dwellings. Sometimes there are fenced-in back yards, and at other bases there are not. Usually, if the housing unit has a back yard, but no fence, you can get permission to install a fence at your own expense. You have to agree to take the fence down, when you moveout if the next occupant decides he/she doesnt want a fence. The same is true of almost any improvement you wish to make to on-base family housing. Usually, you can get permission to do self-help improvements, but you must agree to return the house to its originalstateif the next person to move in doesnt want to accept your improvement. Overseas, on-base family housing units are generally in the form of high-rise apartment buildings Moving out of base housing is a lot harder than moving in. This is the one time when the inside of the house will be inspected, and it will be expected to be in immaculate condition. Many people hire professional cleaners before checko ut. Some bases have programs where the base itself hires professional cleaners when an occupant moves out, making the process much easier. More and more military basesare moving to privatized family housing. This housing is maintained, managed (and sometimes built) by private industry. The rent for these privatized units is paid to the housing management agency by military payallotmentand is equal to the members housing allowance. Off-Base Housing Instead of living in the dormitories or residing in on-base housing, you may be authorized to live off-base. In this case, the military will pay you BAH. The amount of this nontaxable allowance is dependent upon your rank, marital (dependency)status and the area you (or your dependents) live in. Once per year, the military hires an independent agency to survey the average housing costs in all of the areas where significant amounts of military personnel live. The Per Diem,Travel and Transportation Allowance Committee uses this data to c ompute the amount of BAH you will receive each month. One of the nice features about the BAH law is that the amount of BAH you receive may never go down while you are living in an area, even if the average cost of housing in that area goes down. Once you move to a different base, your BAH will be recalculated for the current rate in the new location. An interesting aspect of BAH is the type of housing that the entitlement is based upon. BAH is based on acceptable housing for an individual (or an individual with dependents). For example, a married E-5 is reimbursed based on what DoD considers minimum acceptable housing, a two bedroom townhouse or duplex. For an O-5 it is a four bedroom detached home. While whether or not one has dependents is a factor, the number of dependents is not. SeeWhat BAH Rates are Determined Fromfor more information. If you move intooff-base housingoverseas, your monthly entitlement is calledOHA (Overseas HousingAllowance) and is recalculated every two weeks . This is because currency rates can fluctuate dramatically overseas, causing housing expenses to go up and down. In addition to OHA, those overseas are entitled to some additional allowances, such as an anfangsbuchstabe move-in expense allowance, and reimbursement for costs to improve the security of the off-base residence. If you are authorized to reside off-base, its very important that you ensure your lease contains a military clause. A military clause allows you to break your lease in case you are forced to move on official orders. Special Considerations If you are married to a non-military member, and/or you have children, your spouse and children are considered to be dependents by the military. The military requires you to provide adequate support (which includes housing) to your dependents. Because of this, if you are married, you receive a housing allowance, at the with dependent rate, even if you are living in the single dormitories/barracks. Living in the barracks/dor mitories is mandatory during basic training and job-school and your dependents are not allowed to travel to basic training and/or job school at government expense. During these periods you receive BAH for the area that your dependents reside. When you move to your firstpermanentduty station, the rules change. Your dependents are allowed to move there at government expense. If they dont move there, that is considered your choice. In such cases, you receive BAH (at the with dependent rate) for the amount of your duty station, regardless of where your dependent is actually living. As long as you are still married, to give up BAH, you would have to reside in on-base family housing. However, unless your dependents move to your duty location, you are not authorized to reside in on-base family housing, because the rules say to qualify, your dependents must be living with you. If there is extra space available in the barracks/dormitories, you are allowed to live there, and still receive you r BAH. However, now that the military is trying to give all single people living in the dormitories their own room, most bases do not have any extra space available in their dormitories. Therefore, as a married person who has voluntarily elected not to be accompanied by their dependents, you will likely be required to live off-base. You will receive BAH for the area you are assigned to. If you are allowed to live in the dormitory/barracks, space available, you must be prepared to move out, with little or no notice, in case the space is needed (although most commanders/first sergeants will try to give at least two weeks notice, if possible). The rules change for overseas assignments. If you are assigned overseas, and elect not to be accompanied by your dependents, you can live in the barracks/dormitories on base, and still receive BAH to provide adequate housing support in the states for your dependent(s). How Military Family Housing Works Heres what will most likely happen when you report to your first permanent duty station.Youll arrive with your family and stay in temporary family billeting. This is sort of an on-base hotel for incoming/outgoing military members and their families. Its a good idea to call billeting as soon as you know what day you are going to arrive to make reservations. Youll also be assigned a sponsor before your arrival (youll get a letter with the anthroponym and phone number of your sponsor). A sponsor is a person in your squadron who is assigned to help make your move easier. You can call your sponsor when you know your arrival date, and he/she can make the billeting reservations for you. There is a small cost for on-base family billeting. You can stay in on-base family billeting for a maximum of 30 days (the base can extend this to 60days if there is space available). If you cant get into on-base family billeting, youll have to rent a motel off-base.Whether or not you stay in on-base familybilleting or off-base motel, you will c ontinue to receive your authorized housing allowance (and food allowance). Additionally, for the first 10 days following your arrival, youll receive a special allowance, calledTLE (Temporary Lodging Expense). This special allowance reimburses you for everything (meals and lodging), up to $180 per day, per family. After the 10 days is up, youll have to pay for billeting/motel out of your pocket (although youll still be receiving your housing allowance and sustenance allowance). Youll visit the housing office and (if you like), put your name on the on-base family housing list. At this time, they can tell you approximately how long it will take before an on-base house becomes available. If an on-base house is not immediately available (or, if you dont want to live on base), youll visit the off-base housing referral section, which is within the Housing Office. They can give you a list of local rentals that have decided to list themselves with the base. You are not obligated to use this list. After you find a place that you want to live, you take a copy of the lease (before you sign it) to the housing referral office. They check the lease to make sure it contains a military clause that allows you to break the lease in case you have to move due to military orders. Make sure that the military hasnt put the location on the off-limits list, which is for places that have proven racial discrimination, known drug use. If you are living off-base, and youron-base family housingbecomes available, the military will hire a moving company to move your property from your off-baserental to your on-base family housing unit. Other Parts in This Series What the Military Recruiter Never Told YouChoosing a Military ServiceMeeting the RecruiterThe Enlistment Process and Job SelectionEnlistment Contractsand Enlistment IncentivesMilitary PayChow Hallsand Food AllowanceEducation ProgramsLeave (Vacation) and Job TrainingAssignmentsPromotionsMilitary Medical CareCommissaries and Exchang esMorale, Welfare, and Recreation (MWR) Activities

ASME Journal Seeks Papers for Two Special Issues

ASME Journal Seeks Papers for Two Special Issues ASME Journal Seeks Papers for Two Special Issues ASME Journal Seeks Papers for Two Special IssuesThe editorial board of ASMEs Journal of Manufacturing Science Engineering is currently accepting papers for two special issues of the journal. The deadlines to submit a paper for the special issues, which will focus on materials forming processes and sustainable manufacturing, fall within the next few weeks.The first of the two publications, Special Issue on Innovations in Materials Forming Processes, will provide a venue for researchers to showcase their work in materials forming, which is a field with an ever-increasing need for new research on materials behavior, computational modeling techniques, new processes for forming both metallic and non-metallic materials, and theoretical advances in materials forming on the micro- and macro-length scales. Topics to be covered in this special issue of the journal, which is expected to be publish ed in September 2016, will include formability of metals, anisotropic yield functions and constitutive modeling incremental forming processes for metals and polymers new material testing methods and machines warm and hot forming of sheets and tubes innovative materials for forming and blanking tools novel extrusion and drawing processes new computational methods in forming and multi-stage deep drawing and stamping, among others.Papers for the Special Issue on Innovations in Materials Forming Processes are due Nov. 15. Click here to view the full list of topics and to learn how to submit a paper.The board is also seeking submissions for a Special Issue on Sustainable Manufacturing, which is scheduled to be published in October 2016. The objective of this issue is to present recent research focusing on advances related to the planning, development, analysis, and improvement of manufacturing processes, as well as challenges in facility operations, production planning and scheduling, an d supply-chain design.This special issue of the journal will explore a range of topics including sustainable manufacturing metrics and indicators manufacturing process and system-level modeling and simulation environmentally responsible design for manufacturing process and equipment development for environmental impact reduction manufacturing scheduling and planning for energy and waste management process and equipment development for environmental impact reduction sustainable energy systems renewable energy manufacturing and much more.Submissions for the Special Issue on Sustainable Manufacturing are due Dec. 1. To view the entire of topics and to learn how to submit a paper, click here.For more information about the Journal of Manufacturing Science Engineering, visit http//manufacturingscience.asmedigitalcollection.asme.org/journal.aspx.

How to Manage Former Peers

How to Manage Former PeersHow to Manage Former PeersIf youve been promoted to a role where youll be managing former peers, you may be apprehensive about the unique challenges you could face. Here are some lessons one creative professional learned about navigating these murky waters.Congratulations You just received a hard-earned promotion, and now youll be overseeing the creative gruppe youve been working on. While you should rightfully be happy about the step up, you may naturally be feeling apprehensive or awkward about managing former peers, especially if they are your close friends - or adversaries.During my career, Ive been promoted to positions in which I was leading former peers. Ive also reported to two different friends, one of whom I had been close with for 22 years. In these scenarios, all parties involved had to acknowledge that the professional stakes had been raised and then work together to establish new boundaries. We had honest conversations about how we would deal with manager/employee interactions like task delegation, annual reviews and other feedback, both good and bad.If you find yourself in a similar situation, dont panic. You were promoted because you have that ideal combination of creativity, technical know-how and soft skills like communication, problem-solving and conflict resolution. So put those skills to use as you transition into your role of managing former peers. Here are a few ideas based on my experiencesDont assumePut aside assumptions about your new reports preferences and goals and meet with them individually to find out what they do and dont like about their current role. This is also a good time to find out about their short- and long-term career development plans, especially if youll be shifting workloads or restrukturierung the kollektiv in the near future. Do they want to move into an art director role or are they happy with production work? Do they dream of overseeing other copywriters, or do they prefer to write the copy themselves? Are they looking to transition into UX design? Finding out early on will help you start to form a roadmap for managing your creative team.Set boundaries when managing former peersIf youll be supervising a friend, meet with him or her to establish some new guidelines for your on-the-job relationship. For example, if you currently eat lunch together every day, explain that you will need to cut back on social time at the office. You may decide to invite the whole team to join you in the lunchroom if its a small group or make a habit of regularly asking individual team members for one-on-one lunches. Conversely, if you often lock horns with a particular team member, address the conflict head on and ask if he or she has any concerns about working for you that you can resolve quickly.Establish trustWhen managing former peers, its crucial that they know you will be discreet about sharing personal information and that you will not hold things you already know against them. Its especially important for the entire team to recognize that you will not play favorites or share sensitive information with a staffer with whom youre particularly chummy.Dont overdo itBe sure not to overmanage or undermanage your former peers. Take a step back and think objectively about how you want to lead, what you want to accomplish and how you want your team to interact. Then apply those tactics fairly across the board. Your objective should be to keep morale high and the creative juices flowing, which will be easier if your team feels like youre in control but also flexible.Ask employees how they like to be motivatedWhile friendship is a two-way street, its up to you as a new manager to find out what motivates each of your direct reports. Do they respond best to frequent check-ins or prefer a more hands-off approach to their creative work? What type of feedback inspires them? If youre friends with your team members, you have the advantage of already knowing a good deal abo ut what makes them tick, which can help you engage them in a way that will allow them to do their best work.Grow a thick skinWhile some of your friends may be excited for you, others might be wary of your new role. If a former peer distances herself a bit after your promotion, dont take it personally - as long as shes still showing respect and continuing to be a team player. The person may be cautiously figuring out how to approach the new relationship, just as you are. And while you want to foster harmony and morale on your team, remember that being a good manager isnt a popularity contest.Managing former peers isnt always easy, but managing people you havent built a relationship with can be equally difficult in different ways. So take advantage of the opportunities that come with familiarity and use caution when navigating the trickier hurdles that come with your new role.Need to hire? For time-strapped managers, recruiting creative professionals isnt easy. Learn how we can help you