"By George.. I think she's got it"

LOL

Thanks, again! I got it, and again, I appreciate your help a great deal! :)

-Dee :)

Thanks for the input about Tagalog helping instead of hindering. Our kids head off to Korean kindergarten on Tues for a week long trial basis.

All info in the last dozen posts seem to spot on, correct. One area I'd like to amplify is OHA. You don't just go downtown and get an apartment and come back the DOD pays for your rent. There is a maximum amount that goes by rank. Let's say my maximum amount is $1,000 and I find an apartment for $900 per month. DOD only pays the amount of your rent up to your maximum, so I am out $100. If I find a place for $1,100 then I make up the difference over my maximum allowable amount. Utility pay is different. You get utility amount each month and if you keep your utility expenses below that, you can pocket the difference. Now for those who like to dabble in the gray...no you cannot have your utilities rolled into your rent and pocket all the utility pay. Why you ask? The housing office will make you sign paperwork showing what is rent and what is a utility. The downtown rents know the max amount for OHA for each rank. It's funny how my rent was $100 below my max but a $100 management fee took it to the exact amount. Coincidence maybe....but maybe not.

Cheers,
From the other Chuck

Hi, Other Chuck! ((LOL..well, I guess it's better than the "up-chuck" joke,that no doubt you've heard a million times))

I knew about thing with OHA being a certain amount up to the allowance for your rank... Hubby was stationed in England for awhile, so we've already dealt with that before...it's just all these little quirks that come with the whole non-command sponsored thing that can be overwhelming, as I'm sure you already know! :)

It's good though, to have that kind of info up there, because not everyone may have dealt with OHA in general before, and for someone who hasn't, it's bound to be a different experience. :)

Thank you for all the info you've shared with us, y'all are just *awesome* :)

Dee :)

I think we need to be very clear on the OHA and FSA for NCS dependents. I have gone through this with my finance office at Barksdale, and here is how it has been broken down to me. Granted this could be wrong or it may not be executed correctly. The bottom line is that for NCS dependents, the assignment will be broken into to periods: the period before family arrives; Day 1 to Day 90 of family arrival; and Day 91 until the family departs.

Member will always receive COLA and SAVE Pay. Assume that base housing is not available for NCS families. Understood that OHA rate is a ceiling and actual compensation is tied to lease.

SCENARIO 1: Permission Granted to Live Off Base

Member will receive Single-Rate OHA, Utility Payment, Family Separation Allowance (FSA) AND Dependent Rate BAH for originating station until the family has been present in Korea for 91 days. At that point, Dependent Rate OHA will replace Single-Rate OHA and Family Separation Allowance and BAH will be discontinued.

SCENARIO 2: Permission Not Granted to Live Off Base

Member will receive FSA AND Dependent Rate BAH for originating station until family has been present in Korea for 91 days. At that point, Dependent Rate OHA will begin with Family Separation Allowance and BAH being discontinued.

It is important to note that the member is authorized to receive FSA until the family has been present for over 90 days (BONUS!). The same can be said for BAH, which is a better since it is not tied to actual rent paid (or bad if you have a big appetite for space).

I think it is a misunderstanding that applying for off-base housing and receiving OHA are on in the same. Not exactly the case. If approved, then they are applied for at the same time. If you are not approved, then OHA for dependents will be applied for separately. The forms are different.

Also of note is that I have been told that the Osan Housing office is very against authorizing E-6 and below off base. Each unit will have different successes, but at this point I may have to ghost. That said I have also been warned that ghosting was not allowed. Being the dorm lawyer that I am, I'll be looking for a loophole on what is considered ghosting. I will want to use my room for post workout showers, a meeting point for lunches with the family and maybe a place of solitude for study sessions (school & E-7).

__________________
JIMMY JOE

Jimmy Joe,

Thank you -so- much, your post is a -great- reference! It very clearly and succinctly states the regs,and puts everything out there in a manner simple enough for a blonde (like me :) ) to understand.

With your permission, I'd like to use the text of it in a file I'm putting together as a guide for those who are considering doing an NCS move (with credit of course, given, if you would wish. :) )

I do have one question though, and please forgive me, I'm certain this is a very basic point of knowledge, but I'll confess, I'm not as up on finance acronyms as I should be...what is SAVE pay?

To my knowledge,and what I've heard, "ghosting" has always been at least a *cough* questionable *cough* practice, *definitely* skirting the regs, but from what I'm being told by guys that have just come from Osan in the past 30-60 days, it's done so commonly now, that as long as the dorm rooms are maintained, etc, and you're not coming in late to work etc..the practicality of enforcement against those who *are* ghosting is slim to none.

If we do end up in the ghosting scenario, we figure we'll make the best of it... during those 12 hour day exercises when the base is closed down, kidlet and I will have a place to "visit" and use as "hang space", when we're not out at the library,etc. :)

Heh.. I guess in that situation, though I'll have to kind of watch what I say in those moments that hubby and I are grumping at each other...if I tell him to go to his room, and leave me alone... he might *actually* do it! :)

Have a good day,and again, thank you so much for your post, it was awesome, and helped everyone a great deal, I'm certain! :)

Dee :)

"Save Pay" is pay that we get for being in a place that could possible be dangerous. If your close to the DMZ then you get more, in area 3 we get $100

He may have a better definition?

Dee, when my wife is over here, i'm not going to tell her your little secret about the room!!

__________________
CH-47 SI

They must find it difficult...

Those who have taken authority as the truth, rather than truth as the authority. --Gerald Massey

Thanks, Chuck!

I had thought that was what SAVE pay was, but wasn't 100% certain...!

LOL...and about not telling your wife, don't worry, your secret's safe with me!

After all *evil grin* , If everyone does it, the powers that be may be suspicious! LOL :)

Dee :)

"It is important to note that the member is authorized to receive FSA until the family has been present for over 90 days (BONUS!). The same can be said for BAH, which is a better since it is not tied to actual rent paid (or bad if you have a big appetite for space)."


You will not receive FSA if your family members are present in Korea. ReferenceoDFMR Volume 7A Chaper 27

FSA is payable when:

1- Transportation of dependents to the permanent duty station or to a place near that station is not authorized at government expense.
2- Dependents do not live at or near the PDS
3- Adequate gov't quarters or housing facilities are not available for assignment to a member and inadequate gov't quarters or housing facilities are not assigned.

Tap, you may have information or experience that I am lacking....

BUT...

there is a change to the JFTR that will be posted in April 2006. The change is currently in the form of a letter that was posted earlier in this thread. The information provided to me by my finance office and my own careful reading leads me to the conclusion that FSA will be paid until day 91 AND OHA will not be paid until the 91st day.

EXCERPTS

Under the revised provision if dependents move at personal expense to the
member’s PDS the change in housing allowances takes place on the 91st day


3. Dependents may visit the member at the PDS without affecting the with-dependent allowance or FSH. NOTE: When the visit exceeds 90 days, the dependents are residing at the PDS and the dependent location
housing allowance and FSH stop. In this event, the member is then authorized a with-dependent allowancebased on the PDS.

Now after reading the above and doing some more research I realize that I've dorked the acronyms.

Tap is correct in that FSA will stop the day before dependents arrive if the intent is for the dependents to reside permanently (longer than 90 days). FSH is another way of saying BAH at single-rate for the member when separated from the family.

My apologies!

__________________
JIMMY JOE

Don't assume that about the hospital. They are manned and funded to take care of active duty and command sponsored. I brought my wife over non-command sponsored several years ago and she was on the EFMP program. They wouldn't sign off on her 1466 but I brought her anyway. The EFMP officer at my losing base said, the bottom line is if she's sick and needs care, they will have to provide it, but you will have to fight for it, because they will tell you they don't have to do a damn thing for her. She didn't need care while we were there that tour, but from what I have seen other people go through, he hit the nail on the head.