Finance briefing

Today I went to the finance brief, where I got the ball rolling on my finance paperwork. Just like when I moved to Fort Hood, I get three classes of benefits from finance:

• Per Diem for the period of travel. I get 100% of the standard CONUS rate ($123) for myself, 75% for my spouse, and 50% for each of my kids. Since I'm going to Fort Lee (1385 miles away), I get four days of travel, which gives a total per diem of $1,353 for the period ($123 * 2.75 * 4). Per diem compensation doesn't vary by how long you are *actually* on the road or the price of any of the hotels you stay in.


• Dislocation allowance. Because I'm a captain with dependents, I get $2,750 just for moving.


• Temporary Lodging Expense (TLE). Once I arrive, I have to check in with Fort Lee Housing. Assuming they have no space and give me a Certificate of Non-availability (CNA), I can go off-post while I look for an apartment.

Computing TLE is a little tricky because there are two components. To figure the lodging component, start with your family size. I get 65% for myself, 35% for my spouse, and 25% for each kid under 11 (150%). Multiply that by the "baseline" for the Fort Lee area -- $77 -- and that's $115. That's the maximum they'll pay me back for each of the up-to-10 days I stay in a hotel looking for permanent accomodations. Unlike Per Diem, TLE is a use-or-lose kind of thing.

TLE also has a Meals & Incidental Expense component that doesn't vary by actual expenditure. To figure this, I took my "family size factor" and multiplied it by the M&IE number from that same website ($46 for Fort Lee) to get the $69 per day I'm in TLE.

Of course, this is just what I *think* I know right now. Let me file my voucher and get my full compensation before accepting this as authoritative.