{"id":71838,"date":"2022-09-21T21:53:02","date_gmt":"2022-09-21T21:53:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/navytimes\/uncategorized\/2022\/09\/21\/dod-ponders-one-time-payments-to-lower-ranks-to-ease-economic-stress\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T14:25:37","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T14:25:37","slug":"dod-ponders-one-time-payments-to-lower-ranks-to-ease-economic-stress","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/navytimes\/news\/your-navy\/2022\/09\/21\/dod-ponders-one-time-payments-to-lower-ranks-to-ease-economic-stress\/","title":{"rendered":"DoD ponders one-time payments to lower ranks to ease economic stress"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

NATIONAL HARBOR, Md. \u2014 As military families struggle with higher costs<\/a> for food, gas, housing and more, there has been high-level discussion about a one-time payment to help troops in lower pay grades, said Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. Charles Q. Brown Jr.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cJust this past week, there\u2019s been some engagement within [the Office of the Secretary of Defense] to look at some of our families, particularly those at the lower end of the pay scale,\u201d he said, with a \u201cpotential one-time outlay of money to help support those families to really get them back on track.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Decisions about these DoD-wide solutions are made at the DoD level.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Officials are listening to airmen and their families about these issues, Brown said, and the Air Force and other service officials have been working with defense officials<\/a> on a variety of economic issues. One is to get a better sense of how the housing market has changed, and to have a \u201cmore adaptable system\u201d in determining rates for Basic Allowance for Housing, Brown said, speaking during a keynote session with senior Air Force and Space Force leaders and their spouses before a packed audience at the Air & Space Forces Association\u2019s Air, Space and Cyber conference Wednesday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

BAH is currently evaluated and set once a year, based on a variety of housing factors in local communities, and many feel that the system hasn\u2019t been flexible enough to address sharp increases in housing costs, especially over the past several years.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There were some temporary increases in BAH in the fall of 2021<\/a> to help struggling service members in 56 areas of the country before new rates <\/a>went into effect in January. There were also pay increases and increases in Basic Allowance for Subsistence, but \u201cthat doesn\u2019t do it all,\u201d Brown said. Officials are also looking at cuts in Cost of Living Allowances that were implemented about a year ago, he said, and trying to slow down the pace of those cuts.<\/p>\n\n\n\t