Hurry Up and Wait : “Glitches” Pop Up as the DoD Enrolls Same-sex Couples for Benefits
The first week of issuing ID cards to same-sex military spouses and enrolling them for medical benefits generally has gone “rather smoothly,” but some problems cropped up on applications for housing allowances, said Ashley Broadway, director of family affairs for the American Military Partner Association.
Broadway said she has heard complaints from all over the country about offices that were not allowing same-sex couples to start the process to receive Basic Allowance for Housing.
She was hearing from mostly soldiers and airmen, along with some sailors, but no Marines. “There are no rumblings from the Marines. It seems to be going more smoothly for them,” she said.
Broadway, who is married to Army Lt. Col. Heather Mack, said her family had already been receiving BAH because of their dependent children. But after she heard some complaints about the Fort Bragg, N.C., office, she went in to check on Sept. 3 and said an employee told her there had been no guidance about processing the requests.
Families have since told her that Fort Bragg started processing people for BAH on Sept. 4. But she is concerned that the problem is persisting elsewhere.
She said this put a damper on “what was supposed to be a wonderful day in history.”
DoD had no immediate comment on the issue.