Wednesday, December 27, 2006

Living on Base VS living off Base

Q. Do we have to live in base housing?
A. It depends. In some places, particularly overseas, it may not be safe to live off base. In other places, there simply is not enough base housing available, and you cannot live on base. It requires consent from your Sailor's command to live off base.

Q. What are some benefits of living in base housing?
A. The size of the unit you receive depends on how many dependents the sailor has, and his/her rank. Early in a military career, you would likely live in a larger and nicer place on base than off base if you have a family. All basic utilities are included (free) when you live in base housing. You are surrounded by families who are accustomed to the military lifestyle, and can help a new military spouse adjust to the new life. There is usually a good sense of community in base housing. Often your spouse will work with a few of his / her neighbors, there will be kids in a similar age range nearby, and at one time or another most of the people your live near will have many similar life experiences.

Q. Why would anyone want to live off base?
A. Some people get stationed near where they originally lived and may already own property in the community. In addition, they may have friends and or family living nearby and want to be closer to those people. As with any neighborhood, sometimes base housing can feel too intrusive to the military member and his/her family. Working and living with the same people day in and day out can be trying even in the best of circumstances. Also, the military community as a whole is pretty tightly knit. You and your spouse/family may decide you want to immerse yourselves into the culture of the area you are living in.

LES, BAQ, huh?

One of the biggest steps in any marriage is combining and managing your finances. As a Navy wife, I needed to learn a completely new language just to figure out how much money my husband earned. Here is some of the basic terminology associated with military pay.

LES = Leave and Earnings Statement. Also could be called a pay stub. Shows leave (sick leave, standard leave, etc- also known as vacation and sick time) and earnings.
Base pay = standard pay scale. This figure is pre-determined and computed by rank and years of service.
BAQ = Basic Allowance for (living) Quarters. Money given to personnel who are permitted to live off the military base. This is also pre-determined and computed by rank and years of service.
ComRats = Commuted Rations. Food "allowance" - for Sailors with Dependents and those who are not required to eat meals in the mess hall.
COLA = Cost of Living Adjustment or Allowance. Additional money to compensate for a higher cost of living at a particular duty station. Hawaii, for example, has a bigger COLA than Idaho.
~

Sunday, December 3, 2006

In Pearl Harbor, watching Japanese battleships

Reflections on December 7, 1942. The day that shall live in infamy.

The island of Oahu is a living testament to the damage that was inflicted on Pearl Harbor by the Japanese, prior to the US entering WWII. There are abandoned bunkers in the hills and mountains of the island. If you know where to look, or look closely, you can easily see the scarring left in the landscape from the attack on Pearl Harbor. There is the ever present USS Arizona National Memorial and museum.


It was mid June 1997. Jack and I went to the Navy Exchange at Pearl Harbor to pick up some items for his full inspection before shipping out in July. We emerged from the Exchange with our packages and prepared to head back home. We stopped briefly to look at the ships docked in the Harbor.

Directly in front of us, only several hundred yards away was a Japanese Navy ship. Her colors were flying. Hundreds of Japanese sailors in their dress whites poured off the ship for some shore leave. The hairs on the back of my neck stood up, I was chilled to the bone and desperately struggled to get my mind around what I was seeing. Japanese sailors freely disembarked from their ship, and walking around the Leeward side of Oahu and looking for a good time.

How could this be? The Japanese military killed thousands of US military [personnel, and countless innocent Hawaiians only one generation earlier. The answer is simple, but certainly not easy to comprehend. Times have changed and the Japanese are now among the US Allies.

I tried desperately to talk to Jack about this very disturbing scene. He would not even pretend to listen to what I was saying. Several months after he deployed, I had the chance to talk with a female sailor about this very subject. She explained to me that death is part of life in the military. Part of the day-to-day life of being a sailor is the knowledge you might have to lay down your life at any time. I am still, to this day, both baffled and in awe of that conviction. I do not think I could do that.