What are the regulations regarding BAH during training for Nat'l Guard when it extends beyond 140 days?

SSG Private RallyPoint Member — Mon, 02 Mar 2020 12:53:33 -0500

I'm at a school (AIT for my SECOND MOS) that lasts longer than 140 days, and I was recently told that my BAH (thousands of dollars) will be recouped because I'm living in barracks. Essentially, the way I understand it is that they assume you'll leave behind your apartment or residence to go to a longer school because they provide housing. I don't really understand because when you're in the nat'l guard you have a home or apartment that you go back to whether it's months or a year. We can't just throw away everything for six months. The expense is going to be a real hardship for me.
Additionally, others in the nat'l guard here are not experiencing this issue. It's only me, from the state of Iowa.
Does anyone have any information that can help?
Nothing I've found is either consistent or making a lot of sense to me.

**** Update ****

We've found the regulation regarding the situation. Financial Management Regulation (DoD 7000 14-R, Volume 7A, Ch. 26, pg. 80-82).

Essentially, it's exactly as bad and real as it sounds. They expect members without dependents to either give up or somehow support their lease/mortgage agreements without BAH for any training that is longer than 140. It makes absolutely zero sense for reserve and guard members. It creates financial hardship specifically for any soldier without dependents.

Please, does anyone have any example of an exception to this policy or some idea on how this can be worked out??

Response by LTC Private RallyPoint Member made Mar 2 at 2020 1:00 PM

LTC Private RallyPoint Member — Mon, 02 Mar 2020 13:00:13 -0500

unless it's a state specific policy.... I've never heard of it. My OBC was 24 weeks and I lived in VOQ and still got BAH. It should be no different from getting deployed. They don't expect you to dump all your crap into storage when you get deployed.

Response by SFC Melvin Brandenburg made Mar 2 at 2020 1:15 PM

SFC Melvin Brandenburg — Mon, 02 Mar 2020 13:15:23 -0500

Get with your readiness NCO from the RSP. This is an issue that is easily resolved, or you will get an answer that is better than anything you will find here. It could be a paperwork snafu, or a missing document. Only the unit can answer this question for your specific situation. I just retired from an RSP unit, so this is a pretty common thing.

Response by SSG Private RallyPoint Member made Mar 2 at 2020 2:09 PM

SSG Private RallyPoint Member — Mon, 02 Mar 2020 14:09:26 -0500

I’m currently reclassing and no one here has that issue. If your unit hasn’t been of any help and there’s a Guard/Reserve liaison where you are I’d go talk to them. The only issue I’ve seen any Guard/Reserve folks here run into is getting type II initially instead of type I.

Definitely start with your readiness NCO though.

Response by SSG Private RallyPoint Member made Feb 10 at 2021 12:11 PM

SSG Private RallyPoint Member — Wed, 10 Feb 2021 12:11:20 -0500

UPDATE 10 Feb 2020

This is an ongoing struggle.
The debt was established and over $1,000 was taken from a single paycheck during BLC when it was my only source of income; my readiness NCO and I had to REQUEST a reduced amount be taken.
The regulation exists to the dismay of anyone to whom it is unequally applied. Even the response from a congressional inquiry from the office of an Iowa senator essentially responded reiterating the regulation, ignoring the extenuating circumstances and unequal application of the regulation.
I'm at the step of essentially compiling everything I possibly can regards to the debt and requesting a remission of the remaining amount.
The financial strain, time, and emotional energy should be worth something but it simply is not unfortunately. The Army has work to do to be worthy of its retention goals.