Defining housing benefits
The most attractive and valuable benefits offered by the US Army to its active-duty personnel, are housing benefits. These are essentially on-base ‘housing allowances’, either referred to as BAH (Basic Allowance for Housing), or BAQ (Basic Allowance for Quarters). BAH/BAQ housing benefits are also available to servicemen and women of all other branches of the US Military.
The aim of housing benefits
There are some logical reasons why the US Army encourages servicemen to live on base with the assistance of housing benefits. For a start, it permits servicemen and women to live with their families on base, and interact with other families.
Secondly, it helps foster a sense of security, belonging and togetherness among all families; And most importantly, it boosts the morale of its personnel, keeps them content, and mentally positive at all times.
Amount of housing benefits
The army applies different criteria for disbursement of housing benefit allowances. The quantum of housing benefits AND the size/type of housing units, that serving personnel are entitled to, is computed on the basis of rank and seniority. So, as one rises in rank, so does the amount of housing benefit allowances, and type/size of the housing units.
Alternatively, the US Army also takes into account the size of one’s family. For large families, the army makes adjustments in housing benefits to cover housing costs, as also in the type/size of housing units.
