Rev I. Tin
It depends/will depend on the interpretation of the rules. I don't have immediate access to the JSP but, as you are aware, once you sign up for CEA, you agree to serve accompanied, and will need to show this each time you claim. This is in addition to your poster providing you with a signed certificate stating that you are vulnerable to posting within X years.
There are some posts that are shielded from the 'accompanied' requirement - where there are no FQs for example, and I believe some of the posts in MoD are shielded because of the difficulties in getting accommodation. These posts allow you effectively to serve unaccompanied, but without losing your CEA.
This is all very well for a small number of people, but where the inability to serve accompanied becomes widespread, because of the inequity of North/South house prices and non-availability of FQs, you can be pretty sure that the argument for CEA will be closely examined by the beancounters (as it currently seems to be about very 6 mths).
The main problem with CEA, though, is that its withdrawal would, I believe, be the final straw for many people. For someone with a couple of children, it's worth a lot of money, and your kids (generally) come out of it educated!
However, this is going away from the thread and is perhaps a topic for another time.
STH