You can learn a lot from a Leave and Earnings Statement (LES), including the servicemember's pay grade, years of service, and gross pay. But what do those numbers really mean? A servicemember's gross monthly pay primarily consists of:

• Basic Pay, which varies depending upon the servicemember's pay grade and years of service (military pay tables).
• Basic Allowance for Housing (BAH). Servicemembers receive BAH unless they reside in military housing or the barracks. The amount varies, depending upon pay grade, dependent status, and home station zip code. (BAH Lookup).
• Basic Allowance for Subsistence (BAS). servicemembers without meal cards receive BAS, which in 2008 is $202.76 per month for officers, and $294.43 per month for enlisted.  This amount changes annually, and is located at the top of the second page of the military pay table.
• Overseas allowances, if the servicemember is stationed overseas, such Overseas COLA (Rate Query), the Overseas Housing Allowance (OHA) (Rate Query), and, possibly, Per Diem (Rate Query).

It is important to review the LES, since there are a variety of other allowances a servicemember may receive, such as jump pay, family separation allowance, hostile fire pay, flight pay, hazardous duty incentives, hardship duty location pay, professional pay for medical officers, sea pay, submarine pay, dive pay, clothing allowances, partial BAH, etc.

Colorado Treatment of Military Pay & Allowances

For purposes of calculating child support and maintenance, Colorado divorce courts use a very broad definition of "gross income." In a nutshell, C.R.S. 14-10-115(5) includes every dollar the servicemember receives on the LES, even though some of the allowances are not taxable by the IRS.

Moreover, Colorado family law courts also impute income to a servicemember who receives lodging or food in lieu of BAH or BAS. In re: Marriage of Long, 921 P.2d 67 (Colo. 1996), the Colorado Supreme Court decided that a servicemember who lives in military housing pays child support and maintenance as if he/she were actually receiving BAH!

The reason? Military housing is considered an "in-kind payment," much like a company car provided by a private-sector employer. There may be common-sense exceptions, however - a servicemember living in a Quonset hut may be able to convince the trial judge that it is not the financial equivalent of proper family housing or the full BAH at the with-dependents rate.

More Information

DFAS Home Page.  Comprehensive information, and links to military pay charts, BAH calculator, COLA tables, etc.