Entitlement to Basic Allowance for Quarters

An Air Force accounting and finance officer asked whether a service member was entitled to a basic allowance for quarters (BAQ) on behalf of a dependent child residing with his former spouse to whom he was paying child support. The U.S. Code provides that a member of the uniformed service, who is assigned to Government quarters, may not be denied BAQ if his dependents are prevented from occupying those quarters due to orders of competent authority. In order for a member of the military services to be entitled to the allowance under this provision, the member's dependent must have been precluded from living in Government quarters by military authority. A divorce decree of the court having jurisdiction of the children does not constitute an order of competent authority. The service member argued that the enactment of a Federal statute superseded prior GAO decisions and compelled the inclusion of divorce decrees as orders of competent authority. The purpose of the statute is to compensate members whose separation from their dependents is caused by service in the armed forces. Enactment of this law, which makes support obligations of service members collectable from their pay, does not make a State court custody order an order of competent military authority. Accordingly, the service member was not entitled to BAQ.