Military pay deductions are an important part of your total pay situation. They are one of the two types of money withheld from your pay before it is paid to you. Deductions are shown in the middle column of your monthly Leave and Earnings Statement (LES), and sometimes there are a lot of them. Understanding your pay deductions helps you know where your money is going.
Understanding the Mid-Month Pay Deduction
Every service member has a deduction on their monthly LES that represents their mid-month pay. Military pay is calculated on a monthly basis. The mid-month pay deposit is essentially a micro-loan of half of the amount of your estimated total monthly pay and allowances, minus deductions.
The math for your mid-month pay is done around the 6th of the month, and the Defense Finance and Accounting Service (DFAS) can only use the information it has at that time. If DFAS receives information that changes your total monthly pay amount after it has calculated mid-month pay, then your mid-month pay and your end-of-month pay will be different amounts. This might include the start or stop of allowances, a change to BAH rates following a move or a change in dependency status, or the start or stop of an allotment.
Because this mid-month pay is a micro-loan, it has to show up on your monthly LES somewhere. And where it shows up is as a deduction. Otherwise, your LES wouldn’t balance out.
Common Deductions
These are some of the deductions frequently listed on a military LES.
AFRH: This is a contribution to the Armed Forces Retirement Homes. This is mandatory for enlisted folks.
Federal Taxes: Federal taxes are withheld from each paycheck based on your instructions given on your W-4 Withholding form. You can change your withholding information via the MyPay portal.
FICA - Soc Security: All employees pay Social Security taxes of 6.2% on income up to an annual cap. The cap for 2026 is $184,500. There is no Social Security tax on income beyond that level.
FICA - Medicare: All employees pay into Medicare at 1.45% of their income each year.
MGIB: If you elected to participate in the Montgomery GI Bill program, you will have $100 deducted each month for the first 12 months of service.
Meal Deduction: Whenever a service member is in a position where they are expected to eat meals in the dining facility (or on the ship), the cost of those meals will be deducted automatically.
Roth TSP: If you have directed DFAS to make contributions to a Roth Thrift Savings Plan account, those contributions will show up here.
SGLI: Servicemembers’ Group Life Insurance premiums. Every service member is enrolled in SGLI at the default rate of $500,000 in coverage. Your SGLI payment also includes a small amount for your Servicemembers Group Life Insurance Traumatic Injury Protection (TSGLI).
SGLI FAM/Spouse: Servicemembers’ Group Life Insurance premiums for spouses. These are based on your spouse’s age.
State Tax: State taxes are withheld from your pay according to the instructions you have provided to the military through your DD Form 2058, State of Legal Residence Certificate, and to DFAS through your state W-4. If you think you need to make adjustments here, you can do that via your MyPay account.
TSP: Contributions made to a traditional Thrift Savings Plan account, per your directions, are listed here.
Less Common Deductions
The following deductions appear less frequently.
AAFES: If you owe a debt to the Army and Air Force Exchange Service, the money may come directly out of your paycheck.
Debt: If you owe the government a debt, payments will show up here.
Fine: If you’re found guilty of a military charge and ordered to pay a fine, this will be taken directly from your pay.
Garnishment: If a creditor goes to court and is awarded damages against you, they may have a portion of your income garnished directly from your pay.
GPLD: This stands for Government Property Lost or Damaged. The cost of unreturned equipment can be deducted directly from your pay.
Partial Pay: Partial pay is used for a variety of situations, including early release of funds in a Temporary Lodging Allowance situation, along with other circumstances in which the government prefers to release pay funds outside of the usual semi-monthly schedule.
Pay Released: This is used in conjunction with certain deductions that are handled similarly to allotments, such as child support or spousal support (see below).
Prior Supp/Com: This is part of the excessive way the military accounts for court-ordered child support or spousal support. It shows up three times in the Deductions column, twice as deductions and once as the opposite of a deduction.
Repay Advance: This usually represents the repayment of advance pay.
Split Pay Option: This is used by sailors to have a portion of their pay designated to be available on shipboard bank machines. It is an LES nightmare, as the split pay accounting shows up numerous times in just one LES.
SPO Payment: This is part of the Split Pay Option accounting. Basically, this part tracks the two "payments" made by the service member into their imaginary split pay account.
Support/Comm Debt: This usually represents court-ordered child support payments being taken directly from the service member's pay and paid by DFAS.
If you have a deduction on your LES and aren’t sure what it means, you have a couple of ways of finding out. First, your installation probably has a personal financial manager or personal financial counselor, usually located in the family readiness center. You can ask your personnel folks. Or you can use the internet.
Understanding what deductions are coming out of your pay is key to knowing where all your money is going. More importantly, mistakes happen. The quicker you notice an incorrect deduction, the faster and easier you can get it fixed.
Previously in this series:
Part 1: 2026 Guide to Pay and Allowances for Military Service Members, Veterans and Retirees
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