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Suggest a Feature →How to Read Your LES
General information, not legal advice. For legal issues, contact Trial Defense Service (TDS) or your Legal Assistance Office.
“Nobody understands the LES. Just check that the total pay looks about right.”
Your Leave and Earnings Statement is a detailed breakdown of everything you earn and everything that's deducted. If you don't review it monthly, you could be missing pay, overpaying taxes, or not getting allowances you're entitled to.
The Key Sections
Entitlements (Left Column)
This is what you're being paid. The main items:
Base Pay: Your salary based on rank and time in service. This is the number used to calculate most other things.
BAS (Basic Allowance for Subsistence): Food allowance. Enlisted get a higher rate than officers. Not taxable. If you eat at the DFAC and they deduct meal charges, check that the deduction matches what you're actually being charged.
BAH (Basic Allowance for Housing): Housing allowance based on rank, dependency status, and duty station location. Not taxable. Verify the rate matches your duty station and dependency status.
Special pays: Hazardous duty, flight pay, jump pay, language proficiency, etc. Make sure these appear if you're authorized them.
Deductions (Middle Column)
FITW (Federal Income Tax Withholding): Based on your W-4 elections. If you're in a combat zone, base pay is exempt from federal tax.
FICA (Social Security/Medicare): Standard 7.65% of taxable income.
SGLI: Servicemembers Group Life Insurance. Currently $400,000 max coverage for about $25/month. You can reduce coverage or decline.
TSP: Your Thrift Savings Plan contribution. Verify the percentage matches what you set in myPay.
AFRH (Armed Forces Retirement Home): $0.50/month deduction for all active duty.
Allotments
These are voluntary or involuntary deductions — car payments, support payments, savings bonds, charitable contributions. Review these to make sure nothing is wrong.
Leave Balance
Shows your current leave balance, leave used, leave accrued, and projected end-of-fiscal-year balance. If your leave balance doesn't match your records, flag it immediately.
Common Errors To Watch For
1. Wrong BAH rate — especially after a PCS or change in dependency status 2. Missing special pays — if you completed airborne school but jump pay isn't showing up 3. Wrong tax status — combat zone tax exclusion not applied 4. Incorrect SGLI deduction — you changed your coverage but the old deduction continues 5. Phantom allotments — old allotments that should have been stopped 6. Leave balance discrepancy — leave used doesn't match your records
What To Do About Errors
1. Log your concern and the specific discrepancy 2. Contact your unit finance NCO or the installation finance office 3. Bring a copy of your LES with the error highlighted 4. If not resolved within one pay cycle, submit a formal pay inquiry through your finance office 5. For persistent issues, contact DFAS directly
Access Your LES
Log into myPay (mypay.dfas.mil) to view current and past LES statements. Save copies — you'll need them for taxes, VA claims, and financial records.
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Contact your installation's Trial Defense Service (TDS) for UCMJ matters, or Legal Assistance Office for general legal issues. These services are free for active duty service members.