Military pay can be complicated, with literally hundreds of possible pays and allowances. And sometimes it can be hard to know where to find the right information. Thankfully, most of the non-standard allowance amounts can be found at one single website: The Defense Travel Management Office.
I use various parts of the defensetravel.dod.mil several times each week, whether I am doing an OHA query or trying to figure out someone's TLE rate.
Once you go to the defensetravel.dod.mil website, near the center of the page is a group of bulleted items titled Travel Regulations and Allowances. The bulleted list includes charts and calculators for pretty much every non-standard allowance available in the military.
Included at this website are:
BAH - The Basic Allowance for Housing section includes a calculator, instructional videos, a fact sheet, frequently asked questions, and other useful information about all aspects of BAH, including non-locality rates and differential rates.
CONUS COLA - The Cost of Living Allowance section provides information for the 21 high cost locations within the continental United States. It includes a list of locations, calculator, and frequently asked questions page.
Overseas COLA - The Cost of Living Allowance page for overseas locations, including Hawaii, Alaska, includes a fact sheet, videos, frequently asked questions, and a calculator.
Overseas Housing Allowance - The OHA section provides a calculator, frequently asked questions, fact sheet, and documents necessary for claim special allowance types.
Per Diem - The Per Diem section includes information on locality rates, regulations pertaining to per diem, and frequently asked questions, including proportional meals rates.
Dislocation Allowance - The Dislocation Allowance (DLA) section includes rate tables and a frequently asked questions section.
Mileage - The Mileage rates section includes rates for both Temporary Duty (TDY) and Permanent Change of Station (PCS) travel.
The Defense Travel Management Office website is a super-helpful resource to anyone who deals with the crazy of the military allowance system. Bookmark it, remember the name, or just remember an easy internet search like "OHA query" to bring you to the right page when you need accurate and up-to-date information.
