Expert: MARK A. HOWELL - 2/8/2011

Question
My boyfriend is considering trying to get into a military branch. If he did that he would probably go to boot camp, come home, and then we would get married. I just was wondering how the housing arrangements work for a girl who is married to a military member. Do they live together on or off base? If they live on base, do they have their own place to stay? Or does he still bunk up with the guys?

Answer
Lynn,
Congratulations on your upcoming marriage!

After Boot Camp, married folks get to live with their spouse while single folks live in dormitories.  After the wedding, he'll take a copy of his marriage certificate to the personnel office so it can be input into the computer system, and then get your ID card.  If you wish to live in base housing for free, he will then go to the base housing office and apply for a house.  However, families don't usually get to move into an empty unit on their first day at a new duty station because the number of houses are limited and are assigned based upon rank and family size, the house you qualify for will not always be immediately vacant.

Until that time, you can live together in a house or apartment near the base at your own expense.  The military will give him special pay called Basic Allowance for Housing (BAH) to help cover some of the costs, so you won't have to pay much out of your own pocket.

Each base has different quantities of housing.  Large bases have lots of housing and small bases have very few, so the rules vary from base to base.

Bottom line is, you'll get to live together.

I'm sure you'll enjoy being a military spouse.
Colonel H