Military Housing Key Terms

Familiarize yourself with military housing key terms and acronyms

By Nikki Davis

Learning military housing key terms and acronyms will help you navigate your way in the market. Whether you are a military family, a contractor working in the industry or a lending institution helping out of our service men or women, knowing the terminology surrounding how our government helps house our military families will help you better understand and communicate with those in the field or those you are trying to serve.

Most military housing key terms are acronyms. Many are initiatives brought about by the government. Some deal with the financial side of military housing, while others describe the communities formed by the housing groups. Whatever the terms and definitions, familiarizing yourself with the words and their meaning will help you better communicate.

Privatization

Because a large number of military housing does not meet modern living standards, the Department of Defense has authorized privatization, a means for private developers to finance, plan, design and construct improvements on military tracks of housing. They may also own, operate and maintain the rental housing developments over a certain period of time.
Try: Find out more about privatization from Tinker Air Force Base.

MHPI

MHPI stands for the Military Housing Privatization Initiative, and it is used by the military to better improve the quality of life of service members through improved conditions of housing.
Try: Find out more information on the Military Housing Privatization Initiative (MHPI) from the Office of the Deputy Under Secretary of Defense Installations and Environment.

DOD owned housing

DOD owned housing is Department of Defense housing for military service members and their families.
Try: Learn more about DOD owned housing from ExpectMore.gov, a site developed by the U.S. Office of Management and Budget and Federal agencies.

BAH

BAH stands for Basic Allowance for Housing and is the money allotted for military service members to find housing off base in the private sector.
Try: Find out about Basic Allowance for Housing from Military Advantage.

AHRN

AHRN stands for Automated Housing Referral Network, and it is a program of the Department of Defense's that is designed to improve the process of securing available housing to help military members relocating themselves and their families.
Try: Register as a military member on the Automated Housing Referral Network site.

RCI

RCI stands for Residential Communities Initiative, a move towards privatization of housing for military members.
Try: Check out the Residential Communities Initiative at Fort Mead. Find out how they are looking to provide safe, affordable housing to their military families.