During basic training and initial job training, all enlisted service members are required to live in the barracks. When service members move to their permanent duty station, only single members are required to live in unaccompanied housing, or barracks.
Living in the barracks is also dependent on your loved one’s rank as well as the availability of space on each base.
Every service branch differs on what rank is required to live in unaccompanied housing:
- Army and Marine Corps require single service members with paygrades E-5 and below to live in the barracks.
- Navy requires single service members with paygrades E-4 and below to live in the barracks.
- Air Force requires single service members with paygrades E-4 and below and with less than three years of service to live in the barracks, or dorms as they like to call them.
TheRelocation Assistance Programor housing office can help single service members not required to live on base sort through their options. If your service member has dependents, each installation has a housing office where service members can find out whathousing options are available to them and their families.
As your service member climbs the ranks, their living situation will change over time. After living in the barracks, they will have the option tolive in military housing on base, military communities off base or choose to make their own living arrangements off base.
A closer look inside barracks and dorms
While you may feel a little out of touch with their military life, your service member can share with you their experiences of living on an installation and in barracks for the first time. Here are some things you can expect for your service member while living in the barracks:
