An Army wife sent in a question with no easy answer. Her question appears in the Feb. 1 Spouse Calls. Her issue concerned the amount of support she and her children should receive from an unwilling and deployed husband.

Military regulations require members to support their families at an amount based on the Basic Allowance for Housing (without regard to location.) The exact amount varies, as outlined in Army Regulation 608-99. You can find a PDF of that regulation here.

Beyond that there is no regulation, and how much commanders, chaplains or other agencies get involved varies from service to service. Even if a member is receiving a Cost of Living Allowance for his dependents, the member is not required to provide more support than the BAH amount, according to the Joint Federal Travel Regulation.

As I learned from a friend who is a mlitary attorney, no other support is outlined in military regs, but any binding legal support agreement will be enforced.

For specific information about COLA and BAH, download a PDF of the  Joint Federal Travel Regulation.

For information about the overseas COLA, read Ch. 9
For details about BAH, see Ch. 10

Again, this is a complicated issue with many variables. Any spouse who finds himself or herself in this situation is eligible for help at their installation legal office. (See AR 608-99 paragraph 1-9 for guidelines.)