My chain of command just announced that they're going to inspect on and off-post housing. What are they allow to inspect?

Your chain of command isn’t allowed to enter your off post residence without your invitation. JBLM is conducting these inspections as well, but they are courtesy inspections, not mandatory. The intent is to make sure our Soldiers are being taken care of and not living in decrepit conditions because of bad landlords. You are not required to give entrance to them, and if you do you are not required to let them go anywhere you don’t want them to go. The police can’t even enter your house without your approval and they have legal authority. Your chain of command has no authority over your family or your home.

Off post housing is not under the jurisdiction of the military, last I knew anyway. I do not believe that the Army has legal capabilities of inspecting off post housing. On post....some bad stuff had to have happened for on post housing getting inspected as I have never heard of that before. I recommend you speak with JAG on this.

I found this one a little amusing. Not amused that you asked the question. More at the thought of my chain of command assuming they could inspect my home. Would have been amusing enough on post. But we owned the home we lived in off post.

I would have actually kind of enjoy watching this one. Show up at my house and I would feel inclined to just stand back and watch. My wife makes me look nice at times. She knew she wasn’t in control of a whole lot when we went back in. It would be so much fun to watch someone step into the one place she felt she still had some control, and act like they are in charge.

The phrase "Get a warrant" comes to mind. Because these quarters more often than not are occupied by civilians (even on base), this would be a violation of search and seizure protections guaranteed under the 4th Amendment.

I'm sorry, but I have never heard of off-post housing being subject to inspection.
What I am about to say is prefaced by the fact that this question came from a SNCO, not some 18 month SPC looking for a way to circumvent his CoC.....
Unless you provide permission, no one in your CoC has the authority to enter your private domicile. I'm sure a lawyer will tell you the same. Your spouse and children are not subject to military law. They certainly have a right to privacy.
I must ask; did something happen in your command that spurred such a drastic action? I was in a unit that had a huge drug bust back in the early 90s and because of it a bunch of people who didn't do anything wrong got their rights shit on. Is that the case here?
Bottom line, you are going to have to choose whether or not you allow this to happen. Much like a vampire, they need permission to enter. Once they have it, your life and the life of your family is open to all kinds of scrutiny. Choose wisely.

As a former commander, I never considered entering off-post housing as an option. I may have authority over the soldier but not his/her family. Since the housing is off-post, it falls under civilian jurisdiction. If I have reason to believe (through police reports and other reports) that the living conditions are unhealthy or unsafe, then I engage civilian authorities in the matter and/or have the soldier temporarily live in the barracks until the situation is resolved. I have the authority to inspect buildings occupied by my soldiers and no more.

But I know this because I started my career as an enlisted soldier and this was taught at the NCO Academy. NCOs are responsible for their troopers. As much as I wanted to ensure their health and welfare, my authority was limited, as it was when I became an officer. If my 1SG or CSM came to me with concerns about the living situation of a soldier, who lives off-post, I directed that NCOs handle this with the soldier not with an order to visit off-post housing. The PSG or Squad Leader should be aware of how the soldier is getting along at home. If they have concerns, then we talk to the soldier and determine the problem. But there is no legal or practical reason for me to go to off-post housing looking for problems.

Finally, unless someone with legal authority (warrant) is seeking to enter your house, you never give permission. If they end up at your front door, demanding entrance, you step outside and shut the door behind you. Your duty is to the Constitution and as such, knowing your rights is just as important as defending them. Hopefully, the Army and the country hasn't changed so much that this has been lost.

No. You are no required to allow a member of your chain of command to enter your off-post residence. Although I do recall making these visits to my junior enlisted Soldiers homes when I was a 2LT stationed in Germany 30+ years ago. Having just graduated from college I thought it was a waste of my time and a violation of the Soldier's privacy until I saw some of the conditions a few of them were living with their families. The good news is we were able to get a few emergency housing and landlords to make necessary repairs. So don't necessarily look at it as a negative. Many of your senior NCOs have all kinds of stuff in their garages and storage units that they might donate if they only knew you needed it.

No, they do not have jurisdiction to demand entry to your off base residence. Even CID, NCIS, or AFOSI would need either a warrant or exigent circumstances to enter your off post residence without your consent

Negative off base they can not. On base they have to have permission from your spouse. Unless there is an immediate threat or health and wellness going on for the kids or adults living in the house.

On base they may have the authority to inspect your living quarters since by being on a military base you authorize search any time. Off base housing not owned by the government, I think not! Unless they secure a search warrant I seriously doubt they have the authority to enter your place of residence unless you say they can. You might want to go talk to a legal beagle (military lawyer so you don't have to pay for it) and let them answer the question, legally. I think someone is overstepping their boundaries here.

No, and you don't have to let them.

But keep in mind that, although we want to believe that our CoC is too professional to do so, they can decide to make your daily duty life "Uncomfortable".

I was stationed at Marine Barracks Washington DC from 2001-2003. This was before the current annex was built and many Marines were allowed to live out in town after their first year at the Barracks. Some of the Platoons were tasked with doing courtesy visits of those who just recently moved out. It was to ensure that they had adequate conditions and weren't sleeping on the floor with a poncho liner. It was specifically for the unmarried guys who were just forced to move due to limited space. My platoon didn't do this but a roommate of mine was and our place was checked out. Our circumstances were a little different than what you are describing. Our scenario was directly related to guys drawing BAH for being in DC and living in their cars to pocket the money or living in a studio apartment with no furniture to save money. It wasn't a power trip but I have seen Commands try the heavy handed stuff in the past and it go poorly.

OK. This happened to me in Germany in the early 80's. Any self respecting commander would do what mine did at the time. He came to my door, glanced inside and left. It was that simple. He knew he was intruding but was required by higher command to do so. It was required at that time (only once) because some soldiers were living in very poor conditions due to bad landlords. It was winter, and if memory serves, either a soldier or family member got frostbite in their home because the landlord kept turning off the heat. The command wanted to ensure the health and safety of all soldiers in what we called "living on the economy ". I personally had no problem with it since I knew my place was well above any standard post housing at the time. I was surprised he didn't want to cone in. We moved to that apartment because of a bad landlord. He controlled the heat, but not so bad as to get frostbite. He would come in the apartment any time he felt like it. He also turned the chimes on our grandmother clock off and we thought it was broken. (Luckily the repairman didn't charge us to move the lever back! Lol) He was also strongly suggesting we get stuff from the commissary for him. He had shelves of American food from previous renters. We finally complained and were authorized to move closer to post on the government dime.
Short story long, if they are wanting to do this, there probably has been an incident, especially since its winter, to make the command want to ensure others are not in the same boat. I am hopeful they arent there to do a full blown inspection. That is a line not to be crossed. But command has the responsibility to ensure the health and safety of ALL soldiers in their command, no matter where they live. But like a previous poster stated, check with JAG. Also, if you have concerns about how your landlord is treating you, the visit is a perfect chance to air your concerns. A letter from the Army goes a long way to get bad landlords to behave correctly.

This is likely related to health and welfare concerns based on this protracted nationa emergency. They are looking at quarters to ensure you are all healthy and living a healthy life. You can refuse entry, they do have other recourse to check on your health and welfare. If you live in a clean and healthy environment you should not be averse to a quick walk through and hello. I have had this happen to me and done this in many units based on circumstances to individuals or groups. Sometimes people are not even aware that they live in unhealthy conditions based on how they were raised. These visits can be eye openers for all involved. Again, it is for your health and welfare. I would add that whomever you allow should at the very least be someone you and your spouse are comfortable with. As for kids and dogs, they can be moved to other areas? Just one mans opinion.

I would do 2 things, I would ask to see the regs that allow them to do this, I would also attempt to find those regs. If it just is a command policy I would talk to an individual that works in JAG and get their advice.

This sounds really shady to me. I work at the brigade level and I hate to see people ask for regs but its effective. They might give you the regular it's in, then you ctrl-F it.

SSG Dennis Mendoza NO!
See SFC (Join to see)'s answer.

My guess is: If you live on base in Govt. Housing they can inspect because the totality (house and land property) of the property belongs to the Govt., if you live off base but still in Govt. Housing they can inspect, and if you live off base in private housing that is not "leased" by the Govt. they CANNOT inspect.

Keep in mind that "inspect" means to determine that their property is functioning as it should be and becoming a safety hazard, and not a "white glove" inspection because the Admiral or General is coming.

I lived off base in Govt. Quarters in '96-'99, and Base Housing Personnel made annual walk through inspections to see if everything worked properly, nothing major was broken, etc.

In 1970 I was living in a duplex in Killeen, Texas been out of the Army for a year. Had gas heat which I was afraid to leave on at night. Too many cases of house fires because of the gas fires. Next door in a 2 bedroom house lived a E-6 Staff Sgt. They had 3 small kids. His rent was $135.00 a month and he made aprox. $450.00 a month. The kids would come to my place sometimes for a sandwich or to get warm. They were covered with bug bites and always hungry. The inside of the house was a pig sty. They needed to be inspected and the landlord fined. GI's from Ft. Hood were screwed every time they turned around.

The chain of command is not coming out to inspect your on/off post housing like you do to inspect the Soldiers' rooms in the barracks. They come by your home to check if you live at the residence, if you have running water and electricity at your residence and that Uncle Sam's BHA is covering your rent and utilities. Basically the chain of command wants to ensure that the BHA is more than sufficient for quality of life.

In all my time on active duty I have never had my chain of command do an inspection of my on post housing. It just seems odd to inspect a families house hold unless something was suspected. It's different for Barracks inspections. I know they can do it for on post housing, not sure about off post. Because that is not run by the military.

SSG, my recommendation is talk to JAG. JAG knows the laws and regulations, if your rights are being violated. We still have rights even though we serve and I think the 4th amendment applies. As a 1SG I made health and welfare visits but I didn't enter the home unless invited and didn't inspect like a barracks. It was is the house in good repair and do you have what you need to live. But it is about "intent" talk to JAG. That's my recommendation

As other barracks lawyers have pointed out, no you do not have to let your command inspect your off-post housing.
What these barracks lawyers didn't mention (at least in any of the responses I read) is that your chain of command has the authority to revoke your permission to live off post if they have any reason to believe your living conditions are unsuitable.
This is the kind of question I would have expected from a private or a wise-ass SP4, not from an NCO. Clearly you either don't give a damn about the soldiers you are supposed to be responsible for, or you think that they should have to put up with standards but you should be exempt. Either way, I am not impressed.

I bought a house that is now rented out to another soldier, actually its on its fourth tenant now on LA28 north of Fort Polk. I've periodically had CoC emailing me with questions of lease responsibilities and whatnot but in all its not really up to them, I got some heat about the lawn and this and that but its the responsibility of the tenant and has nothing to do with the Military. Lets say they want to extend their inspection to welfare right? They can see the lease, including any documents for abatement like lead and asbestos. They could get water test reports if they wanted from the municipality, thats what they CAN do. But as the soldier, your not obligated at all to share your time and space with CoC on private property anywhere in the United States, in fact this has been to court. There is no such thing as a welfare check on private property and it needs to be executed much differently to keep unit commands from getting in unnecessary grievances with their soldiers.

To cya i suggest you go to base legal and get their official view on this inspection. As a official opinion from JAG will have more backing then rally point legal

Just tell your CoC that your civilian spouse don't want them there. Your CoC has no authority over your spouse if he/she is a civilian. If you're staying in on-post housing, technically its the Garrison Commander's authority and jurisdiction. They are like the Mayor of the installation, so they do have authority and responsibility to upkeep it. However, when comes to off-post they have no authority.

i’m retired military last I remember these are the rules ,anything that physically belongs to the military , they can look at within reason, anything that is physically off posts that the military has no control over, now they can’t request or someone makes a report but then The civilian authorities get involved

I did this as a company commander at Ft Lewis from 1982 - 1984. I was able to assist my soldiers and their families to get necessary repairs; get out of leases; and even waive deposits as the landlords got to know me. My wife usually came along as did one of the NCO s and his wife. And, yes, it was at our soldier's invitation. But, it was with the expectation that I was there to help. Sometimes we even had follow on visits from JAG Admin Law.

This falls under the 4th Amendment to the Constitution and your right to be secure within your own home. The SFC at the top of this post nailed it. You may invite your CO or 1SGT into your home, but they have no right to enter your non-government quarters without a warrent.

I had a CSM who suggested an interesting policy. As has been stated that someone in the CoC cannot demand to inspect off-post quarters. BUT, the CoC can schedule a TA-50/II inspection. When that happens - give the off post personel the option of lugging all their TA-50/II on to post - up to the 3rd floor (designated area for off-post personnel) or if you prefer, your CoC will come to your house for the inspection - which would be a bit less informal.
I love giving people choices!

Wow, who up the food chain decided that just because you signed a contract and live off post that your 4th doesn't count? This sounds like a call to Army Times is in order...
Tell your 1SG to "pound sand". Then go visit JAG and ask them to clarify this to the chain of command at your post.

Tell them to go to hell. They don't have the authority. Off post housing cannot be "inspected" by the chain of command without your expressed assent.

Since the military has been getting negative news because of deaths at certain installations maybe this their way of showing the country they're trying to take care of their troops. However of the 22 years i spent in the Army i jever saw nor heard of anything like this happening. Thats why military move off post in the first place. To get away from it

I never heard of such thing but they can inspect only on post housing but off base housing is off limits. I never heard of such a thing!

If you live in base housing that's off the main installation, they can in fact check your place. BUT if you are living in a privately owned location that is owned by a private entity, then they have to be invited by you. Your command has no control over non government property.

So my wife brought up a good point, why is the chain of command coming to subordinates homes when this pandemic is going on.

Be good question for a lawyer. I can see that they might be able to inspect quarters both on and off if you are using guvment funds (BAH) to rent the qtrs. It might be said that the Guvment is the tenant. If paying with your own funds, NO. If there are still some guvment owned houses on post then yes, they can.

The only time my command ever inspected my off base housing was in Philippines and it was before I moved in to make sure it was not some dive or a fake address. This was so I could collect BHA and BAQ allowance in my paycheck. By order of comnavstaphil. After that no other inspections were allowed. I would first take this issue to the command Master Sergeant then to legal follow your chain of command

On base, yes, it is government housing but it can not be unannounced and it must be arranged with you through coordination. Off base, no, only with your permission and only if you want them in your house. You have a constitutional right to personal privacy and the government does not have the right to intrude, yet!

Tell your commander that the only way he can enter your home is if he has a court order signed by a civilian judge and is escorted by the local sheriff's office.

Whaaattt? This must be something just

new? Never heard of such a thing, except in civilian law.