Pentagon Intern room and board ideas

Aulysses

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My son has an internship at the Pentagon this summer and I am wondering if anyone has suggestions or ideas of places to stay for 10-14 weeks. He will have his commission (AFROTC) but will not yet be active duty.
 
My son has an internship at the Pentagon this summer and I am wondering if anyone has suggestions or ideas of places to stay for 10-14 weeks. He will have his commission (AFROTC) but will not yet be active duty.

Will he have any kind of TAD/TDY orders? With those, he can stay in a BOQ (Navy says Bachelor Officer Quarters, but it can be many names depending on service, such as temporary lodging or billeting). There is such a thing as no-cost TAD/TDY orders, which gives him official status but no authorized per diem or travel. That way, he can get the with orders lodging rate, as opposed to the on leave rate. Maybe his unit can gin something up, or the command where he is interning.

Or is it a funded internship? Hope so, since he won't have AD salary.

Many bases also have a hotel-like property, such as a Navy Lodge, Army Inn, etc. There quite often have a kitchenette or microwave and small reefer.

Best info and reservation websites can be found by searching the websites of these bases - I've listed in rough order of proximity, over to you for research:

Nearest to Pentagon is Joint Base Myer - Henderson Hall (formerly Ft. Myer, Marine Corps Base Henderson Hall), Arlington, VA. The
https://www.dodhousingnetwork.com/j...ase-directory/temporary-lodging-and-billeting
(don't think this is official link, but it's good info)
He could walk down to the Pentagon, a bit of a hike, but many do, or take the shuttle. There won't be parking for him, and paying for a monthly garage at D.C. rates will have him eating EZ Mac.

Ft. McNair, DC. Not sure of housing and transport there. I'm a little vague on nearest Metro stop.

Washington Navy Yard, DC. Could take Metro to Pentagon. Not sure of housing there.

JBAB - Joint Base Anacostia-Bolling (Navy Annex Anacostia). Not sure about transport.

Ft. Belvoir, down US-1. Big base, not sure if transport.


Military by Owner.
http://www.militarybyowner.com
Maybe someone has a short-term rental.

Maybe he has a classmate from the area whose family would rent him a room?

Good luck.
 
George Washington University keeps some dorms open during the summer, specifically for interns. No more than a few blocks to the Metro Line that goes to the Pentagon.

Contact their housing department.
 
Did this internship a couple years ago. A couple guys found a furnished sublet in Dupoint Circle for 900 a month which was quite a steal. Another had an AirBNB but they had full TDY coverage due to being Academy (ROTC was unpaid but I've heard they reimbursed 75 dollars a day for housing now). GWU does have housing for summer interns but it usually get sold out quickly. A good quarter (including myself) had family in the area so we camped up at their house. One tip I'll give to you also is for your son to ask for the metro transit subsidy once he starts working as it would save him a good chunk of money on transit expenses.
 
Will he have any kind of TAD/TDY orders? With those, he can stay in a BOQ (Navy says Bachelor Officer Quarters, but it can be many names depending on service, such as temporary lodging or billeting). There is such a thing as no-cost TAD/TDY orders, which gives him official status but no authorized per diem or travel. That way, he can get the with orders lodging rate, as opposed to the on leave rate. Maybe his unit can gin something up, or the command where he is interning.

Or is it a funded internship? Hope so, since he won't have AD salary.


It is an unfunded internship, but he knew that going in. He is looking into the possibility of getting orders from AFROTC.

Thanks for the great suggestions.
 
Just a thought... He could contact the ROTC units at the DC colleges (American, Georgetown, GW) and see if any of the students there have housing that they would sublet for the summer. Many student apartments are empty during the summer semesters, and the ROTC units may be the way to find those opportunities. He would need to talk with the students at the units, I would think that the staff would not be as helpful.
 
While we're at this, I have a related question...USNA DS has two summer internships; one at the Army Research Center and the other at NASA Goddard. They're only a month each so I'm guessing we'll just be looking at short term apartment or hotel rentals unless someone can advise a different route.

Thanks
 
While we're at this, I have a related question...USNA DS has two summer internships; one at the Army Research Center and the other at NASA Goddard. Thanks

DS #2 had an internship at Goddard in Fall 2016. They have an office that assists interns in finding housing. He split an
Air BNB with other interns which was coordinated by the office at Goddard. His internship lasted 3 1/2 mos.

P.S. They were slobs.
 
DS #2 had an internship at Goddard in Fall 2016. They have an office that assists interns in finding housing. He split an
Air BNB with other interns which was coordinated by the office at Goddard. His internship lasted 3 1/2 mos.

P.S. They were slobs.

Thanks so much! Very helpful.
 
He'll have a special TDY order from ROTC. But if I remember one person attempted to do that but finance had no idea how to process the special order and denied him housing. You'll also get it about a week before the internship starts. In fact, a friend of mine year later did the same internship and had delays and difficulties in processing the reimbursement after the internship started. Gen Woodward told all of us to expect paying a descent amount of money to do the internship and we all knew it ahead that it'll be a large expense. Unless they are able to ask for additional money and change the status he'll be considered a "special" type of order where the normal TDY per diem coverages does not apply to him.
 
The host AFROTC unit in that area is UMDCP (det 330). UMDCP only guarantees housing for freshmen, thus most kids live off campus and their leases will run on a 12 month basis. I would call the det and see if any of the cadets would sublet to you. My DS lived off campus and commissioned in May and returned home, however, we continued to pay the least through the end of July.
~ UMDCP has a metro stop in College Park so he can commute from there. My DS interned on the Hill as a student and would travel in daily to DC using the Metro.

I would also look into Prince William county. Many of the Pentagon personnel "SLUG" into work. Basically, slugging is unofficial legal hitch hiking due to HOV regs. (3 people for HOV 6:00 a.m.-9 a.m, 3:30-6:00 pm)
~ Basically you stand in line, a driver drives up and 2 of you get in the car. They drop you off at the Pentagon. It is free.
~At exits on 95 there are huge parking lots, thousands of spots and lots are filled by 7 a.m. There are lots basically every couple of miles. Buses also run out of these lots, so if he gets off from work early and nobody is picking due to HOV hrs.
~~ Bullet has done this for years. We live in PW county and door to desk it takes him @ 50 minutes.

The reason the lot fills up by 7 is because even from PW county, using the HOV it only takes @25 minutes to get to the Pentagon, hence they are at their desk by 7:30. Duty day maybe 8-4, but at the Pentagon it really is 7-7:30 to 4-4:30. 7:30 is on the late side, at least for my DH. He usually is at his desk no later than 7:15.

For the AF personnel assigned to the Pentagon are assigned to Bolling AFB for housing. You may want to contact Bolling housing office.

DC area is very expensive. While he is here make sure he visits Ben's Chili, but tell him not to over order...his eyes will always be too big for his stomach in that case! PS the last time we were there they only took cash, no credit or debit cards.
 
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