Family Separation Allowance: The $300 a Month for Being Apart

When the military forces you to be away from your family, it pays you something for the burden of it. That is the Family Separation Allowance, FSA. It is easy to overlook because it is smaller than the headline deployment entitlements, but it adds up over a long separation, and plenty of people who qualify never realize they should be getting it. If the military is keeping you away from your dependents, this is worth a look.

The 2026 amount

FSA pays a flat $300 a month. That figure went up from $250, raised effective December 18, 2025, the date the FY2026 National Defense Authorization Act was signed. It is paid on top of your other pay and entitlements, so over a six-month or year-long separation it is a meaningful chunk of money on its own.

The basic rule: an enforced separation from your dependents

The core requirement is an enforced separation from your dependents because of your military duty. For the ship and temporary-duty types, the separation must last more than 30 continuous days; for a dependent-restricted PCS (FSA-R) there is no 30-day test, and credit starts from the date you detach. The key word is enforced; this is about the military sending you away, not a personal choice to live apart. For TDY and ship time, the 30-day threshold is what separates a normal short trip from a qualifying separation.

The three types

FSA comes in three flavors depending on why you are separated:

• FSA-R (Restricted): you are on a PCS to a location where your dependents cannot accompany you, such as an unaccompanied or dependent-restricted tour.
• FSA-S (Ship): you are on a ship away from your home port for more than 30 continuous days.
• FSA-T (Temporary): you are on temporary duty (TDY or TAD) away from your permanent station for more than 30 continuous days, which is the one most people hit on a deployment.

Mil-to-mil couples: you might both get it

Here is a detail that surprises dual-military couples. If both spouses are service members with shared dependents and were residing together right before the separation, both spouses can qualify for their own FSA at the same time when each is separately under qualifying orders. That means $300 a month on each member's pay, independently, for as long as each one stays in a qualifying assignment. It is a real, and often missed, benefit for mil-to-mil families.

The bottom line

FSA pays $300 a month (up from $250 as of December 2025) when military duty enforces a separation from your dependents — more than 30 continuous days for the ship and TDY types, and from the date of detachment for a restricted-tour PCS. Mil-to-mil couples can each draw it at the same time. It is not the biggest line on a deployment, but it is real money that is easy to miss, so confirm it is on your LES.

Check which type applies and when it starts and stops with the FSA Calculator, and see it alongside the rest of your deployment money in the deployment pay guide.