Armed Forces News

A change in how the Air Force figures unaccompanied housing requirements will call for fewer dormitory rooms, which means that more airmen could move off base in the future. Under the new policy, which took effect Jan. 1, the Air Force must provide dormitory housing for unaccompanied E-1s through E-3s and E-4s with less than three years of service. Previously, the Air Force maintained dorm spaces for all unaccompanied airmen below E-5. Basic Allowance for Housing rates are now set high enough that a senior airman should be able to obtain adequate housing downtown, without paying a lot of out-of-pocket costs, said Chief Master Sgt of the Air Force Gerald Murray. By 2005, BAH is expected to pay 100 percent of off-base housing costs.