Originally Posted by
Skylarking
Not sure if it’s changed but in my day officers had to pay for room and board but you kept your BAS. Needless to say the amount you paid to the Sup-O was greater than BAS, so you effectively paid to be deployed. Enlisted lost BAS.
In the Navy, officers had to basically return their BAS to the ship when at sea, to cover food.
If you had a house/condo/appt out in town you'd keep that and the housing allowances even if single. Same for married enlisted. Single personal living in base housing typically had to move out on long deployments.
The wardroom could, if it chose to, charge more than BAS so as to have better food, more ammeneties, etc.