Should you and your family's life style be any different based on rank?

SSG Demetrius Davis — Fri, 29 May 2015 09:18:44 -0400

I realize that my initial question is vague. I wanted to focus on on-post housing. A more suitable question would have been should the size and quality of on-post housing be dependent on rank?

Response by SPC Private RallyPoint Member made May 29 at 2015 9:19 AM

SPC Private RallyPoint Member — Fri, 29 May 2015 09:19:58 -0400

I think the family should be able to live within their paycheck...

Response by 1SG Private RallyPoint Member made May 29 at 2015 9:24 AM

1SG Private RallyPoint Member — Fri, 29 May 2015 09:24:15 -0400

Of course it will be different is your lifestyle the same as when you were a private? Peoples lifestyle changes with there incomes no matter how slight or indifferent they do change.

Response by SSG Demetrius Davis made May 29 at 2015 9:39 AM

SSG Demetrius Davis — Fri, 29 May 2015 09:39:46 -0400

With higher rank comes higher pay, no argument with that. The more money you earn, the more things you can purchase for your family with little or no regard to price, no argument with that. The intent behind my question concerns on post housing. My opinion is that one officer with 4 dependents should not have a home that is superior to one soldier with 4 dependents. I do not feel the old saying "with rank comes privilege". I do not feel that having a higher rank should entitle one's family to a higher standard of living over any other. Some may argue that renting or buying a home off post is based off your income which in turn is based off rank, the higher rank you are the bigger home you can rent or purchase. I understand that and have no argument with that but I don't think that should apply to on post housing. I accept, with a little apprehension, that you want to separate those with the pay grade of E-8 from those with an E-1 pay grade but I think one 2 or 3 bedroom home should look like any other.

Response by SrA Daniel Hunter made May 29 at 2015 9:53 AM

SrA Daniel Hunter — Fri, 29 May 2015 09:53:36 -0400

It is, "should" is irrelevant. As an E-2 we ate what was cheap, never went out to eat or to the movies. I drove a POS and when it seriously broke down I had to borrow money from in-laws to fit it.

As an E-4 we occasionally ordered pizza, went to movies once in a while and I had a newer POS that didn't break down all the time.

Response by SGT Allen D'Aoust made May 29 at 2015 10:04 AM

SGT Allen D'Aoust — Fri, 29 May 2015 10:04:30 -0400

No, we all put our pants on one leg at a time.

Response by TSgt Joshua Copeland made May 29 at 2015 10:36 AM

TSgt Joshua Copeland — Fri, 29 May 2015 10:36:54 -0400

I hit upon this in my one post over in the thread about the mil/mil BAH Senate proposal. I posited that the DoD should create a single standard of living for all mil members (vs our current tiered system) and if you want to live above that standard, use your base pay to do that.

Response by CMSgt Mike Esser made May 29 at 2015 12:59 PM

CMSgt Mike Esser — Fri, 29 May 2015 12:59:53 -0400

Yes. If minimum acceptable standards are adhered to

Response by Sgt Aaron Kennedy, MS made May 29 at 2015 3:02 PM

Sgt Aaron Kennedy, MS — Fri, 29 May 2015 15:02:18 -0400

Housing is part of our total compensation package. As rank increases, that portion increases as well. BAH is reflective of that, as is on-base Quarters if available.

Compensation is reflective of "potential scope of duty" which directly correlates with rank. Junior enlisted have the least compensation because they have the least potential scopes of duty. Senior Commissioned have the greatest for the opposite reasons.

Response by MSG(P) Private RallyPoint Member made Jun 1 at 2015 10:27 PM

MSG(P) Private RallyPoint Member — Mon, 01 Jun 2015 22:27:21 -0400

I think the quality of on post housing should be the same for all ranks and the size of the house should be authorized by family size. Your level of responsibility due to your rank should not determine how big your house is. That makes no sense to me. The Army is about equal opportunity and the housing standards are contradicting its own policy.

Response by MAJ Ken Landgren made Jul 4 at 2015 8:49 PM

MAJ Ken Landgren — Sat, 04 Jul 2015 20:49:20 -0400

I don't expect an E-2 and 0-6 as neighbors.

Response by PO1 John Miller made Jul 4 at 2015 8:52 PM

PO1 John Miller — Sat, 04 Jul 2015 20:52:51 -0400

I don't know about Army base housing, but with Navy base housing size is not dependent on rank. It depends on how many dependents you have. For example, my next door neighbor in Hawaii was an E5 while I was an E6. He had 2 kids and a wife and I only had a wife. Therefore he had a larger house.
Quality of housing is another issue. Officers and senior enlisted had newer housing.

Response by LCpl Mark Lefler made Jul 5 at 2015 4:30 PM

LCpl Mark Lefler — Sun, 05 Jul 2015 16:30:58 -0400

It is that way anyway from what I could tell, enlisted housing at Lejuenne was very different from officer, same when I drove around Leavenworth.

Response by MAJ Private RallyPoint Member made Aug 19 at 2015 10:47 PM

MAJ Private RallyPoint Member — Wed, 19 Aug 2015 22:47:28 -0400

When my wife and I lived on Fort Polk we were in a similar situation to what you described. My wife (a 1LT) lived in identical housing to one of the E4's assigned to her Company. While I don't necessarily have an issue with that in itself, both families paid the entirety of their BAH to Picerne housing. We paid hundreds of dollars more per month to live in the same crappy 2 bedroom apartment. That I do take issue with. As Sgt Aaron Kennedy, MS said BAH is part of the total compensation package. For me to support your proposed change I would like to see pay increases for those affected.