Is the National Guard required to provide sleeping arrangements for Soldiers and Airmen?

2021-11-08T22:12:32-05:00

Soldiers and Airmen who are traveling 100+ miles to their drilling location are not being provided a place to sleep and are referred to local hotels that will cost much of their drill pay or are told to find a friends house to sleep at. Or even to drive the 100+ miles home and then wake up early to drive back despite the cost of gas and the potential hazard that driving that distance presents.

Previously I have seen units provide cots and the drill floor or some other available room at armories or other installations, but this option does not currently seem available for whatever reason. I have also seen barracks style housing be made available to enlisted, but said housing is currently being filled by cadets and officers.

Junior enlisted are being told not to sleep in their cars, but if leadership is not providing sleeping accommodations what grounds do they have to try and tell Soldiers not to? Additionally, how can they expect other Soldiers to open up their homes every month to various Soldiers that don't have a place to sleep?

I have attempted to locate a regulation relating to this, but was unable to do so. How would you address this issue?

Response by SGT Private RallyPoint Member made Nov 9 at 2021 2:31 AM

2021-11-09T02:31:10-05:00

In the Army Reserve, we have LIK which gets a hotel for one night for anyone who lives 50 miles away or or two nights for those who live 100 miles away. If the Guard doesn’t provide that same benefit, that’s unfortunate and a disservice to you guys.

Response by SGM Private RallyPoint Member made Nov 9 at 2021 8:49 AM

2021-11-09T08:49:35-05:00

Lodging in Kind is authorized, unfortunately like all things Army, it is subject to the availability of funding, and it hasn't been funded in ARNG for quite some time.
You mention that barracks had been available but are now"currently being filled by cadets and officers". Sounds like OCS was drilling there.
And unless you recently changed units, it sounds like the cots once available but not now were loaned out to another unit.

Command Options:
If your unit is located at or very close to an installation with barracks (like Camp Navajo) your unit can schedule drills around the availability of barracks, and reserve them to ensure Soldiers have a place to sleep.
Your unit can get their cots back, or simply order more.
Worst case, every Soldier got a sleeping pad from CIF, and if there was plenty of space for cots, there's plenty of the same space for sleeping pads.

Individual options:
Buy your own cot at Walmart for $50 (I haven't used an Army-supplied cot since OEF I )
Get a motel room but split it 4 ways, for about $20 it still beats the drill floor.
Transfer to a unit closer to home, which is what you will find in the reg.

Response by SSgt Christophe Murphy made Nov 9 at 2021 8:51 AM

2021-11-09T08:51:17-05:00

A quick google shows that there are plenty of resources out there but from what you are stating it seems that information didn't get out to the troops.

https://themilitarywallet.com/reserve-idt-travel-reimbursements/

Reserve IDT Travel Reimbursements

Some branches offer Reserve IDT Travel Reimbursements? Current rules for claiming travel reimbursements for Army, Air Force, Navy, Marines.

Response by MSG Private RallyPoint Member made Nov 9 at 2021 10:15 AM

2021-11-09T10:15:00-05:00

I'm betting your unit has an NCO (and sometimes an Officer) serving as the LIK Coordinator. I would ask them why LIK is not being used to house Soldiers that are travelling in from 51+ miles.

Something tells me that your response is going to be that they don't have it because it's not funded. And, chances are it's not funded because no one is using it. And they are probably not using it because they may feel that it's too much of a pain in the ass. Especially for whomever the Purchase Card Holder is.

Either way, the unit Leadership should be coming up with alternate COAs to get their troops housed as much as possible so that Soldiers aren't having to pay out of pocket.

Now, if it were me (and I am an asshole enough to do this), I would be submitting Vouchers in DTS for reimbursement for both travel and lodging costs. Even if the vouchers keep getting rejected, the message is getting out there.

Now, until such time as Leadership extracts their cranium from their 4th point of contact, here are some COAs you can do:

1) Get with a few other folks and share the cost of a hotel room. It's obviously not the most comfortable situation, but the reduced cost should outweigh the risk of 4 dudes farting in the same small room. Plus, this could also lead to ride sharing which saves money on gas. The negative aspect of this is that you get 4 young troops in a hotel room and sometimes stupid shenanigans will happen. Especially if alcohol comes into play

2) Find out if anyone in the unit lives close and are willing to house you up for the nights you have to be there. The positive aspect is that it's a free place to stay, it's local. The negative aspect is that this can't always be a guaranteed COA, it could eventually lead to hurt feelings/animosity/rumor and innuendo.

3) Grab a cot or sleeping pad and sleep on a floor in the Drill Hall. Positive note is that you are right there. Negative notes are that you are locked in, no real access to food, and what should happen if there is a medical emergency in the middle of the night.

Either way, Leadership is gonna have to come up with a plan of action. Perhaps if you write up a Decision Memo and present it to the Command Team(s), this could force action. If you don't know what a decision memo is nor how to write one, look in AR 25–50, Section 2-8.

Response by CPT Private RallyPoint Member made Nov 9 at 2021 3:42 PM

2021-11-09T15:42:48-05:00

OK, OK, OK........ Here I go.

LIK is not a "right". This time of year is the worst time of year for LIK. FUNDING. Funds run out as the fiscal year ends and new fiscal years cross over, and coffers have not be restocked with funding.

LIK can be entirely pulled out from under us. I was in a situation several years back where LIK was only granted for E7+, W2+, and O3+. I was literally the commander of a company where my WO's Sr NCO's were getting LIK, but I was NOT because I was a 1LT.

So I slept in my office.

We were offering soldiers a cot in the office area, but then we needed to have a fire guard watch plan. So everyone said SCREW THAT.

Right now, where I'm at we have access to barracks, but the school house on post has priority. We get hotels when we can, and usually do, but the approval process is tedious and mind numbing. There are consequences when folks say they will use a hotel, and then DON'T use the hotel or fail to sign the register. Then it blows back on leadership that funding was secured and then not used. Then they lose the right to get LIK in the future.

Currently, we secured LIK and hotel rooms for the last two months, but then guess what? In person BA was canceled and we went to virtual. So we just screwed the hotel out of 50 reservations with only a few days notice. Then, we did that to them a second time. The military is the military and we all have to play the game, but civilian enterprises can always tell us to F-Off. So we'll probably reach out to other hotels to potentially screw over in the coming months, so we don't annoy any one too much.

When new soldiers enlist, they are never given a promise for LIK. I was literally having to counsel them, and they would need my commander waiver in order to join the unit if they were outside 50 miles and it was disclosed to them to be ready for a "tough luck" situation.

***********
Do not sign the dotted line for a USAR contract if you are outside the 50 mile commute distance. Otherwise prepare to eat the costs.

When taking a new assignment that puts you outside the 50 miles be prepared to make the sacrifice.

When putting together a promotion packet in the USAR make sure you put a commute radius you are tolerant of in your packet for your potential new assignments.

LIK is not a guarantee.

Actually... the only thing guaranteed is 48 MUTA's and no less than 14 AT days. That's Congressionally mandated.