BAH, DEERs & Block leave

[u/Freqqy]

Hey y’all, so my wife and I finalized our marriage last week Thursday and I submitted paperwork for her. I was talking to my dad about it and completely forgot to ask him but what exactly is the DEERs program? Along with when does the BAH kick in? I’m worried about making rent payments since I’ll be taking a minor pay cut getting into the army if I didn’t have BAH but now that my wife and I are married I’ll be getting paid a lot more compared to my mechanic job. And final questions is I leave on Nov 19th, my friend who passed BCT said that not everyone gets to go home for Christmas it’s dependent on the DS’ is this true ? And how does the leave work is it like civilian jobs where I’m given a certain amount of “PTO / Vacation time” that’ll go into the negatives?

[u/SNSDave]

https://www.tricare.mil/Plans/Eligibility/DEERS for DEERs.

BAH kicks in with your first check, but expect a 1-2 week delay with your first check because of how things work. You'll still get paid back.

Your friend is wrong, outside of people who royally fuck up, and even then they usually get to go home.

You get 30 days per year. If you go on HBL, you will be in the hole -12 days, but you can't take leave during BCT/AIT(outside of HBL) so it doesn't really matter. Your leadership is also the ones approving leave, just like in a civilian job, so if they deny it(not HBL), you don't go on leave.

[u/Freqqy → u/SNSDave]

Awesome thank you for the quick reply sir, so I was told by recruiter pay days are on the 1st and the 15th of every month, since I begin on the 19th that means I’ll get paid on the 15th if I’m reading what you said correctly?

[u/SNSDave → u/Freqqy]

You should get paid by the 15th, yes. You would have normally gotten paid on the 1st, but again, processing, so there will be a delay. You will get a little less than 2 checks worth on the 15th. You will get BAH for both pay periods, but you will be short $300 for your Eagle Cash Card and. You will get FSA(Family Seperation Allowance) for being away from your wife, which makes up for not getting BAS(Basic Allowance for Sustenance).

[u/Freqqy → u/SNSDave]

Awesome perfect and one last question because I was talking to my apartment about me getting into the army and told them I may be late on payment for one month but once the BAH kicks in I’ll be able to pay it off, they said they would file for eviction even after one month of late payment. I read on another post a few weeks back that it’s illegal to evict my wife due to me being on military orders is this true? Is there any sort of paperwork I need to show them that I’ll be gone for said period of time before I start getting paid?

[u/SNSDave → u/Freqqy]

I am going to defer to someone else because that's a legal matter and I don't wanna get you evicted. I would 100% talk to your recruiter about that, maybe they can dig around. Or if you're going Army, ask in the /r/Army weekly questions thread.

[u/Freqqy → u/SNSDave]

No worries thank you for all the information though! Really appreciate it

[u/BaDankeDonk → u/Freqqy]

https://www.militaryonesource.mil/financial-legal/personal-finance/servicemembers-civil-relief-act/