Stay happy, check your LES

  • Published
  • By Senior Airman Wes Carter
  • 71st Flying Training Wing Public Affairs
VANCE AIR FORCE BASE, Okla. --  Most people do not enjoy balancing a budget. It can get even harder for Airmen if they don't continually review their Leave and Earnings statement.

This past March the 71st Comptroller Squadron received the results of an audit that focused on how much Airmen were getting paid for the Basic Allowance for Housing.

"The audit showed us that there are some things we need to change to better serve our customers," said Maj. Tina Nguyen, the 71st CPTS commander. "At Vance, some Airmen were receiving BAH when they shouldn't have or were receiving it at a higher rate then what is allotted to them. In order to correct this, we regularly check the zip codes of every member to ensure they are receiving Vance's BAH rate."

When Airmen receive more money than they are supposed to, the government will take the excess money back, which is why checking your LES is so important.

"If you are checking your LES and you see something is wrong, don't wait for finance to notice it," Major Nguyen said. "Come to us, and we can set up a payment plan that will allow you to pay off the money in increments instead of it all being zapped from your paycheck at once."

Errors in BAH can usually be attributed to a recent permanent change of station. A week prior to each payday is a cutoff day that doesn't allow changes to the military member's current pay.

"If a member arrives on station on Oct. 16, but they don't submit and finish their travel voucher until Oct. 25, their BAH won't be updated to reflect Vance's rate," said Staff Sgt. Nathan Meier, 71st CPTS customer service NCO in charge. "If the BAH from their previous base was different from Vance's then there will be a pay discrepancy."

Due to the inability to automatically update the system, discrepancies are unavoidable, but damage can be mitigated by scrutinizing all portions of your LES.

"People who look at their LES usually just look at the top portion," Sergeant Meier said. "However, the bottom part holds the explanations to most changes in the top part. We recommend that servicemembers read everything on it. If they have a problem understanding the LES they can come by finance, and we will be glad to explain it to them."

Checking your LES for pay infractions is your first line of defense to catch mistakes and to keep a balanced budget. If you still have questions or concerns Financial Management can assist you at 213-7192.