Pay & Entitlements
Your LES is your military pay stub. Here's how to read every block of it, line by line.
A financial operations technician helps a customer resolve pay discrepancies, Pope AAF, Nov. 6, 2025. U.S. Air Force photo by Senior Airman Kourtney Ross, DVIDS (public domain).
Your LES is your monthly military pay stub. It looks dense, but it is really just a stack of boxes, and each box does one job. Read it top to bottom, in blocks: what you earned, what was taken out, what you set up, and what you take home.
Three words unlock the whole page. Entitlements are the pay and allowances you earn, and they add. Deductions are required or elected withholdings, and they subtract. Allotments are automatic payments you set up yourself, and they subtract too. Whatever is left is your net pay, the take-home that lands in your account.
Three columns of money move in and out, and the math at the bottom nets it to your take-home. Learn the order once and the page stops looking dense.
Blocks to know
If a line is wrong on your LES, it is wrong in your paycheck.
Source: DFAS
Read it in blocks, top to bottom. The official DFAS LES groups its numbered fields into an identification section, then entitlements, deductions, and allotments, then leave, tax, and Thrift Savings Plan information. Here is each block in the order it appears.
Identification. Your name, Social Security or DoD ID, grade, pay date (the date your pay longevity clock started), years of service, branch, and ETS or EAOS, which is when your current service obligation ends. The pay date drives your years-of-service pay step, so confirm it is right.
Period covered. The time window this statement pays for, normally one calendar month.
Entitlements. Every type of pay and allowance you earned this period, listed line by line: base pay, BAH, BAS, and any special or incentive pays. The total rolls up into a field labeled TOT ENT.
Deductions. Everything subtracted from your gross, such as federal and state tax withholding, SGLI (your life insurance premium), Social Security and Medicare (FICA), TSP contributions, and mid-month pay.
Allotments. Automatic payments you direct out of your pay, such as money to a savings account, an insurance policy, or a dependent. You control these, and they come out after deductions.
Summary math. The statement nets it out. Total entitlements, minus deductions, minus allotments, plus or minus any amount carried forward, equals your net amount (NET AMT).
Leave. Your brought-forward balance, leave earned and used this period, and the balance you have now. Use-or-lose shows here too.
Tax block. Your filing status, exemptions, wages year to date, and tax withheld year to date for federal and state.
TSP block. Your contribution percentages and the amounts going into your Thrift Savings Plan.
Remarks. Plain-language notes from finance about changes, retroactive pay, debts, or anything that overflowed the columns above. Read this every month, because it flags problems early.
Entitlements add, deductions and allotments subtract. That is the whole game, and it makes the rest of the LES click.
Entitlements are money the military owes you: base pay, which is taxable, plus allowances like BAH and BAS, which are not taxable. Deductions are required or elected withholdings: income tax, FICA, SGLI, dental, and TSP. Allotments are voluntary transfers you set up yourself, so they are the easiest line to forget about and the easiest to fix.
Net pay is your take-home: total entitlements minus all deductions and allotments. It is the number that lands in your account.
Here is the part that confuses people in their first few months. Active duty members get paid twice a month, on the 1st and the 15th. Your mid-month pay, paid on the 1st, is roughly half of your monthly net, and it shows up on your LES as a deduction so the end-of-month statement does not double-count it.
The LES is the receipt for your paycheck, not a form you file and forget, and a quick monthly read catches an error before it costs you. Here is where to find it and how to make the check a habit.
Paid twice a month: Paid on the 1st and the 15th. Your mid-month pay (the 1st) is about half your monthly net and shows on the LES as a deduction, so the end-of-month statement does not double-count it.
Make it a habit
In basic, some entitlements like BAH and BAS may not be flowing yet. Check the entitlements column.
Source: DFAS · MyPay
In MyPay. Log in at the MyPay site, and your current and past statements are under the LES section. Save a PDF copy each month, because you need LES copies for loans, taxes, and benefit claims later.
Monthly. Active duty members get a monthly LES on MyPay. Guard and Reserve members get one tied to their drill and active-duty periods, and a few LES fields, such as allotments, work differently for the Reserve Component.
Two different dates. Your pay entry base date drives the years-of-service column that sets your base pay. DIEMS, the Date Initially Entered Military Service, sets which retirement system you fall under. They are usually close, but they are not the same field.
Because your entitlements have not all switched on yet. In basic, you are usually getting base pay, but BAH and BAS may not be flowing the way they do once you hit your first duty station. Check the entitlements column to see exactly what is active.
Catch it fast and route it through finance. If a line is wrong on your LES, it is wrong in your paycheck. Compare this month to last month, find the line that changed, and take it to your servicing finance or admin office. Keep the statement that shows the error.
Yes. Your LES has a dedicated TSP block showing contribution percentages and amounts, and a tax block showing your filing status, year-to-date wages, and year-to-date withholding. You manage both through MyPay.
Your servicing finance or disbursing office (S-1, admin, or the base finance office) handles anything specific to your pay account. For pay-record questions, you can also reach DFAS customer service at 1-888-332-7411 or use askDFAS. View your LES, tax withholding, allotments, and TSP in MyPay. And every active-duty, Guard, and reserve member, and their family, can get free financial counseling around the clock through Military OneSource, or in person through your installation's Personal Financial Management program (Army Community Service, Fleet and Family Support, Airman and Family Readiness, or Marine Corps Community Services). The official links are in Sources below.
