Expert: Aaron Shifferly - 9/22/2009

Question
hello, my boyfriend is going off to basic for the air force. after he gets out we would like to live with each other, i know we could not live on base but where could we live?
and i would love any other info about
living off base.
thank you so much.


Answer
I will start by saying I'm not completely familiar with AFIs because I'm in the Army, but I can give you the general way it will go. The best chance you have to live with each other is to get married. I assume your boyfriend is joining the AF as an E1. This means that generally he wont be given a chance for a government subsidy for housing until much later in his career, about E4 rank or higher. If he chooses, and is permitted by his chain of command, to live off base still he would not get any money for such. This could cause a strain on finances since his housing subsidy generally would cover your rent and some of your utilities. You can fix this by getting married or being patient until he's given a subsidy and permitted to live off base. As far as other information there really is none.. you find a place to live and rent it. He won't be authorized government assistance with finding the place or anything until he's authorized to live off base. All of this changes if he's assigned to live overseas because there are different (generally more strict) rules for living overseas, to include passport and visa rules that would likely preclude you from living with him full-time. Hope this helps.