Expert: Cynthia Bedell - 7/29/2008

Question
My boyfriend is thinking about joining the navy, but he wants me to live with him on base.We are not married but we want to live together off base or on base. Is this possible and how does this work.What are our choices.

Answer
Dear April --

You may not live on base with your military boyfriend.  You must be married to qualify for family housing on base.  Boyfriends and girlfriends are not allowed to cohabit in the enlisted billets.

You could live together off-base at your own expense, but your boyfriend will not get permission to live off-base until he has earned sufficiently high rank (usually at least petty officer), or he is married.  That means he will not get a housing allowance, so your rent will be out-of-pocket.  

At some duty stations there is insufficient enlisted housing, so some Sailors receive permission to live off-base at a lower rank than normal.  Then the Sailor would get a housing allowance, and could have you as his "room mate" to share the rent.

Good luck to you both.