We need legislation to cover the US Guard and Reserve [Commentary]

It’s time to be honest about the Guard and the Reserve — despite their name and low-commitment reputation, it’s been a long time since serving as a member of the Reserve component, or RC, has truly consisted of one weekend a month and two weeks of training in the summer. 

The RC has been a consistent source of boots on the ground in Iraq and Afghanistan, used to ameliorate the operational tempo and strain on the active-duty force. However, rhetoric surrounding the “total force” concept is only now catching up with reality, and there’s a moral imperative for legislation and policy to do the same. Congress should update the Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act, also know as USERRA, to reflect the increased training commitments of today’s force and consider additional tax benefits such as deductions for hiring reservists and tax exemptions for "differential pay." 

The role of the RC has shifted from “a strategic reserve to an operational force." High-demand Army National Guard units are facing an increase of training days up to 60 a year over the course of four years, while the Air National Guard is trying to negotiate with employers, recognizing that airmen often work 60-80 days a year to meet necessary training demands. As training increases, leaders cite a focus on predictability to try and mitigate the impact on families and employers, yet this may not be enough. 

Though the RC is more operational than ever, there has been no legislative action reflecting this change to ensure the men and women serving in the Guard have the necessary legal protections to do so effectively. A recent memo to the Massachusetts National Guard notes: “We will constantly be challenged by operational demand, the urgency of readiness requirements, and the constraint of time as a reserve component of the Army.” .... Read more

2017 Basic Allowance for Housing Rates

The Basic Allowance for Housing (BAH) is based on geographic duty location, pay grade, and dependency status. The intent of BAH is to provide uniformed service members accurate and equitable housing compensation based on housing costs in local civilian housing markets, and is payable when government quarters are not provided.

For your personalized pay and allowance computation check out our Military Pay Calculator.

Each year the BAH tables are released between December 15 and January 1.

Current BAH Rates:

The overall average military Basic Allowance for Housing rates across the country increased over the last year. As noted above, BAH rates are based on the combination of local costs for rent, utilities and renter’s insurance for various housing types. Any fluctuation of one or more of those factors in a given location will affect BAH rates for that location. 

Any active duty servicemembers who see a drop in BAH for their locality will have their BAH protected, thanks to "individual rate protection," which was adopted by Congress over a decade ago. On the other hand, those who live in an area that sees a BAH increase will enjoy a bump in the paycheck.

View the Current BAH Rates 

According to the DoD, BAH rates now make it possible for servicemembers to have zero out-of-pocket expense -- for servicemembers living in civilian rented housing. Since 2008 the BAH rates are directly related to the cost increases of the local rental housing markets.

Although BAH rates will generally either remain stable or increase, there may be some areas that decrease due to a decreasing local rental market. However, individual rate protection will still apply. Individual rate protection prevents the decrease of a BAH rate as long as the status of a servicemember remains unchanged. The servicemember who is already attached to his or her unit and receiving BAH will receive any published BAH increase, but no decrease. When the new BAH rates go into effect, rate protection assures that the servicemembers typical out-of-pocket costs may be less, but never more, than upon their reporting date.