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ADVANCES OF PAY
If you receive permanent change of station (PCS)
orders to a location outside your current geographical
area, your commanding officer can authorize an
advance of pay not to exceed 1 month’s basic pay less
the following:
Income tax withholdings
FICA tax deductions
Scheduled liquidation of any indebtedness
(including any unliquidated amount resulting
from an advance previously made on a
different set of PCS orders)
Servicemen’s Group Life Insurance (SGLI)
premiums, if applicable
In cases involving extreme hardship, your
commanding officer may authorize up to 3 months
advance pay less deductions.
DFAS-CL will withhold part of your pay each
payday until the advance is repaid. The advance must
be fully liquidated within 12 months (starting on the
15th of the month following the month in which the
advance was made) or before your projected rotation
date (PRD). You can repay the entire balance of the
advance any time during this 12-month period. In
certain cases the commanding officer can authorize an
extension of the repayment schedule to 24 months.
Advance pay is often referred to as a “dead horse.”
PERSONAL FINANCIAL
RESPONSIBILITY
Commanding officers should not act as agents for
claimants in business transactions or claim
collections. Normally, the commanding officer only
ensures that the claimant’s communication reaches
the right person and that the person responds
promptly. Commanding officers will not tolerate
actions of irresponsibility, gross carelessness, neglect,
or dishonesty in the financial dealings of their
personnel. Federal law allows garnishment of your
pay if you fail to pay your federal taxes, court-ordered
child support, or alimony.
If evidence indicates an officer is negligent or
careless in attending to personal finances, the
commanding officer will make an appropriate entry
on the officer’s fitness report. If the circumstances
meet certain criteria, the commanding officer may
recommend trial by court-martial. When finances are
extensively involved, the officer may have to submit a
monthly statement of indebtedness and show positive
intentions in fulfilling unpaid obligations. Article
6210140 of the MILPERSMAN outlines Navy policy
on personal indebtedness.
DEPENDENT IDENTIFICATION
CARDS (DD-1173)
Persons dependent upon you for more than
one-half of their support normally qualify for a
number of benefits. Your dependent must have a
valid dependent identification card to qualify for the
following benefits:
Medical care at uniformed services facilities
and Civilian Health and Medical Program for
Uniformed Services (CHAMPUS) facilities
Commissary, exchange, and theater privileges
Special privileges overseas
NAVMILPERSCOMINST 1750.1 explains
dependent identification card application procedures
and associated benefits.
MEDICAL CARE FOR DEPENDENTS
Another benefit for your dependents is the medical
care protection provided under the Uniformed Services
Health Benefits Program (USHBP). SECNAVINST
6320.8 describes this program in detail. To ensure your
dependents receive care under this program, you must
enroll them in the Defense Enrollment Eligibility
Reporting System (DEERS).
DEERS has two
objectives. Its first objective is to collect, and provide
for management’s use, demographic and sociographic
data on the population entitled to receive DOD
benefits. Its second objective is to prevent misuse of
these medical benefits.
The USHBP provides for comprehensive medical
care in military medical facilities. The CHAMPUS
portion of the USHBP also covers most civilian
medical care accepted as good medical practice.
Excluded are domiciliary or custodial care, routine
physical examinations or spectacles, prosthetic
appliance devices other than artificial limbs and eyes,
and routine dental care.
USHBP makes some
exceptions to these exclusions.
Table 4-1 provides a breakdown on the
Uniformed Services Health Benefits. A pamphlet
entitled CHAMPUS gives additional information
concerning USHBP. You may obtain this pamphlet
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