I leave in August for bootcamp and will be married by then. Not doing a guaranteed district or anything like that, so where I go is up to the coast guard. My wife to be is in the middle of college and I am not sure if she will be coming with me until after she completes her degree. How does that work with the housing allowance then? What are my options?

First, take a look at this thread where they talk about being what the CG calls a 'Geographical Bachelor':

http://forums.military.com/eve/forums/a/tpc/f/415197802/m/5340045802001

The way it would work is that you would receive the BAH with dependents rate. Here is a link to find out what the BAH rates are:

http://perdiem.hqda.pentagon.mil/perdiem/bah.html

When you are looking at the rates, keep in mind that you will either be an E-2 or E-3 at your first duty station.

That allowance, which is totally seperate from your base pay, is intended for you to rent a place to live. I'm not sure what your wife's living arrangements would be while finishing school, but it could be really difficult to try and afford two apartments as a senior member, let alone someone just coming in the CG. If she has family she can stay with where she is currently going to college, that might be able to work.

Another option is that if you are stationed in an area with several college opportunities, she can always go with you and continue her education at a different institution.

If you have any other questions about joining, try posting them in the Recruiters Desk Forum. There is a lot of great information in there, and for any question you have, there's a good chance the question and answer might have already been posted. Best of luck to you.

PO1 Kevin Couture

Another thought off the side here;

Having a plan to move away from your new bride, possibly for years, within a couple of months of getting married, with a fairly small paycheck just might not be the best thought out plan. Like the poster above mentioned, you really should look into the possibliity of her continuing her degree at her first duty station. At least talk about it. If she isn't willing to even talk about it, then as Bill Engvall would say..."Here's your sign".....