Entitlement to Basic Allowance for Quarters

The Army requested an advance decision concerning whether a member's entitlement to basic allowances for quarters (BAQ) ceased upon the authorization of his dependents' travel or at some later point so as to allow the dependents time to arrange to ship household goods and commence travel. The member was transferred overseas. He was denied concurrent travel for his dependents because of a lack of adequate quarters. Upon arrival, the member was immediately assigned to adequate family type quarters. According to the statutes, a member is entitled to BAQ when, because of the orders of a competent authority, his dependents are prevented from occupying Government quarters. Based on this, GAO has held that BAQ should not be terminated if a member's dependents are not authorized to travel to join him. In this case, GAO held that the member's BAQ continued until transportation was arranged for the household goods and was available for his dependents, plus the normal travel time for the dependents to the member's station.