Posted on Oct 19, 2016
Why do Service Members with dependents deserve greater benefits, entitlements, and quality of life than single Service Members?
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Single soldiers are required to live in the barracks and eat DFAC food. A married soldier gets BAH, BAS, Family Separation Pay while TDY or deployed, and generally enjoy a far higher quality of life. If both soldiers do the same job, are the same MOS, same rank, have the same Time in Service, and Time in Grade, what makes the single soldier worth less to the Army?
BAH
Barracks
BAS
DFAC
Housing
Posted >1 y ago
Responses: 62
Absolutely agree I think it's completely unfair
Single soldiers get free housing they don't have to pay a penny for it, that's completely unfair married soldiers only get a partial stipend that in no way shape or form covers the actual cost of living in the housing, paying the bills for utilities etc.
Single soldiers get free quarters and appliance maintenance they don't pay a dime for, they make a simple phone call maybe fill out a form and maintenance people come out for free and take care of all your needs during duty hours.... YOU GET PAID and DUTY time to get your bathroom fan fixed for FREE.
That married soldier has to pay the AC repairman, has to go to Best Buy and get the new refrigerator or washing machine when it dies. I think it's completely unfair that a single soldier gets all that for free.
I also think it's completely unfair that a single soldier doesn't have to get up hours before first call formation so that they can get there on time and unfair that a single soldier doesn't have to pay huge costs to travel to work each day wasting precious hours every day in commute.
The single soldier has everything they need on the installation they don't have to go to the next town over to get food, cross to the other side of town to go get something to drink or find a movie theater or a restaurant.....that's completely unfair to the married soldier who has to go all over to get the same things the single soldier has provided for them.
Department of defense, the United States Army as well as the unit chain of command has specific programs benefiting the single soldiers.
Low-cost tickets, concert events, fishing trips, movie nights....all kinds of things are provided in the better opportunity for single soldiers program that married soldiers are not allowed to use, that's completely unfair to the married soldier... Married soldiers are people too.
And yes all of the above was said somewhat tongue-in-cheek.. the point being the desire to complain comes from your personal position and outlook not necessarily the reality of the situation
Single soldiers get free housing they don't have to pay a penny for it, that's completely unfair married soldiers only get a partial stipend that in no way shape or form covers the actual cost of living in the housing, paying the bills for utilities etc.
Single soldiers get free quarters and appliance maintenance they don't pay a dime for, they make a simple phone call maybe fill out a form and maintenance people come out for free and take care of all your needs during duty hours.... YOU GET PAID and DUTY time to get your bathroom fan fixed for FREE.
That married soldier has to pay the AC repairman, has to go to Best Buy and get the new refrigerator or washing machine when it dies. I think it's completely unfair that a single soldier gets all that for free.
I also think it's completely unfair that a single soldier doesn't have to get up hours before first call formation so that they can get there on time and unfair that a single soldier doesn't have to pay huge costs to travel to work each day wasting precious hours every day in commute.
The single soldier has everything they need on the installation they don't have to go to the next town over to get food, cross to the other side of town to go get something to drink or find a movie theater or a restaurant.....that's completely unfair to the married soldier who has to go all over to get the same things the single soldier has provided for them.
Department of defense, the United States Army as well as the unit chain of command has specific programs benefiting the single soldiers.
Low-cost tickets, concert events, fishing trips, movie nights....all kinds of things are provided in the better opportunity for single soldiers program that married soldiers are not allowed to use, that's completely unfair to the married soldier... Married soldiers are people too.
And yes all of the above was said somewhat tongue-in-cheek.. the point being the desire to complain comes from your personal position and outlook not necessarily the reality of the situation
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PO3 Donald Murphy
It must be base dependent. I've been retired since 1989 and have used Army, AF, Navy, MC bases all over the world/USA and never ran into a ticket or item or event that was geared towards singles with the exception of Patrick AFB, FL which had a singles club.
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SGM Erik Marquez
PO3 Donald Murphy - no its a Service Program.. The US army.. though id guess other services do the same.
I don't think boss went as far back as 1989.. "feels" like it was a early 2000 deal.. but Id have to research to be sure
I don't think boss went as far back as 1989.. "feels" like it was a early 2000 deal.. but Id have to research to be sure
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Maj Ed Kooken
All single troops have complained about the same issue for years. If you don't like it, get married (Fall in love first, but there are plenty of contrast marriages that unfortunately happen). The grass is always greener on the other side. I was married my entire military career and there were plenty of days that I wished that I could just go back to the barracks and do my own thing for a day/weekend. Also, I never minded the food at the chow halls.
I guess when we stop complaining, then we aren't really living.
I guess when we stop complaining, then we aren't really living.
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I'd focus on your own level of compensation/benefits, and not worry about your colleagues. Research shows that many people pay more attention to "relative compensation" (i.e. compensation compared to others) than they do about their overall level of compensation, and it adversely impacts their own level of job satisfaction and happiness. A clear, but extreme, example can be seen in professional sports. An athlete making $10m per year complains that another athlete is making $12m per year. Their focus is on the $2m differential, rather than the $10m level of their compensation. You'll always be unhappy, in or out of the military, if your focus is on trying to acquire what someone else has. If you're not making an amount that satisfies you, find another career path.
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LTC Kevin B.
SGT David Baker - When I lived in the barracks over in Germany (mid-80s), I did the same thing....cooked meals on a hot plate and had a mini-fridge. It was suboptimal, but better than eating only DFAC food or paying even higher costs to eat out. When I PCS'd back stateside, it was about the same. I then ETS'd in 87 and went off to college.
I do agree that barracks quality of life is suboptimal on many levels. In a way, I wish the military would just transition young, single service members onto BAH after a year (or so) on station. That gives them time to integrate and adjust before pushing them out on their own.
I do agree that barracks quality of life is suboptimal on many levels. In a way, I wish the military would just transition young, single service members onto BAH after a year (or so) on station. That gives them time to integrate and adjust before pushing them out on their own.
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SGT David Baker
LTC Kevin B. - Yes. Transitioning to adult civilian life is a challenge on a par with having to "adult" immediately on leaving high school. I am blessed that I was able to do my last tour in Fort Living Room, commuting to Fort Hood, learning the ropes and the occasional unwelcome surprises. My time between leaving home and joining the Army could be a case study in "learning life lessons the hard way" as I had been sheltered in more than the usual sense while in my parents' care.
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LTC Kevin B.
SGT Caroline Slothour - I suppose that type of setup (community kitchen) is better than nothing, but I can see how it can still be inconvenient in many ways. Regardless, it sounds like you've taken the initiative to solve some of your own quality-of-life issues. Great initiative, but I wish it didn't have to come out of your own pocket. I still think commanders should be able to transition everyone out onto BAH after a reasonable transition period (which you'd already be well past).
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SFC Gregory Adams
When I retired after 24 yrs AFS, it was a culture shock the amount of money I needed to make as a civilian to compensate for the loss of revenue that i was getting from my active pay as a SFC. Like LTC B. stated, "stay in your lane" an worry about you. Life outside the military is much more difficult than inside. Yes, there are no inspections, you wear whatever you want, unless the compnay has a uniform, etc....but there is a HUGE difference when it comes to benefits and compensation in your bank account. The loss of BAH, Sep Rats, FSP, combat pay, jump pay, and the list goes on.....free money for doing your job. You don't get that on the outside. It is included in "do your job", if you don't like it......there is the door.
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Look , its not fair that you judge us married people because we are married. Some of us that do get married also loose some of the things that you still have. Like Partying and getting shit faced , having multiple partners at a time, playing xbox all day all night. I know I no longer can do those things because I now have responsibilities.
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PO3 Donald Murphy
SGT Caroline Slothour - There is no such thing as marriage fraud unless you didn't get married. There is no law against marrying your friend/buddy as a "contract" marriage in order to get benefits. Hell, theres marriages done "out of love" where the couple spend barely a day together and sleep with tons of other people. So no one will give you any grief. We had a ton of folks do that when I was in. One guy even married a female Marine stationed across the nation on the other coast. They met in an airport lounge while waiting for a plane. Got married that day. They were "married" four years and then she met someone and fell in love and her and my shipmate got a "divorce."
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PO3 Donald Murphy
I don't know about your branch, but in the Navy, the moment you married another sailor, the Navy busted their ass to fuck the two of you over. They'd send you to Alaska and him to Florida. So in the grand scheme of the military wanting to make your life miserable, I don't see how the Army could say that your marriage was a fraud.
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PO3 Donald Murphy
Then again, my experience was 1980's and US Navy. Hard to say if things have changed. I know that as an admin officer, I never questioned anyone. They brought me a marriage certificate, I entered the data and the sailor got bennies. What he did with the bennies was out of our control. We never pulled sailors aside and made them account for every penny. So if a sailor was sending x amount of his pay to some girl on the other side of the world, we had no way of knowing.
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PO3 Donald Murphy
SFC (Join to see) - No, what he's saying is that you both do the same job and yet you get more because you're married. In the civilian world you'd earn the same pay as me irrespective of which one of us is married.
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