A Simple Guide for Service Members in Korea
01
ADSN must be 6411
This is the first row on your LES, covering your basic personal information. Here, you can check if you're already in processed with your finance office. You can make sure by checking if your ADSN is 6411. If your ADSN says 9999, it means that you are not in processed, and if this goes on for more than 90 days, your pay will stop. If your ADSN says anything other than 6411 and 9999, your previous duty station did not out-process you and is not in process with finance.
02
Check your entitlements
This is located on the second row, the first column of your LES, where you will find your entitlements. In Korea, every Service Member is entitled to Basic Allowance for Subsistence (BAS) Cola (Cost of living allowance) but they vary based on rank and location. HDP (Hardship Duty Pay) is only entitled to service members who live in Area 1. Other entitlements you would see here if you are eligible are Family Separation Allowance (FSA), Basic Housing Allowance (BAH), etc.
03
Check your Deductions
This is the second row, the second column of your LES, where you will find your deductions. Important deductions that should be here are meal deductions (whether or not you should have it depends on rank, position, and unit), Federal Taxes, Fica-Soc-Securit, Fica-Medicare, TSP, SGLI (Service Member Group life insurance). In this section, you will find any outstanding debts if you have any. At the bottom of all your deductions, you will find your mid-month pay.
04
Check your Allotments
This is the second row, third column of your LES, where you will find your allotments if you have any. To set up allotments, please visit MyPay website.
05
View the summary
This is the second row, third column of your LES, where you will see your total deductions and entitlements. The EOM PAY box is your end-of-month pay.
06
Check your leave
This is the third row of your LES, where you can find your leave information.
- BF BAL is the current balance of leave going forward. It either starts at the beginning of the fiscal year, when active duty began (if they're checking before in the first year they joined), or the day after the service member was paid Lump Sum Leave (LSL).
- EARNED is the amount of leave the soldier has earned in the FY (fiscal year is OCT 1st - SEP 30th).
- USED is the days used in the FY.
- CR BAL represents the total number of days available for use in the current month.
- ETS BAL is the days you will be able to use on terminal leave when you ETS, but it is not always accurate, which is why you must come to finance up to a year before you ETS to receive ETS leave balance.
- LV LOST is the number of leave days that were lost in the previous FY if any.
- LV PAID is the number of leave that was sold during ETS or re-enlistment.
- USE/LOSE refers to the number of leave days you must utilize before the end of the fiscal year (FY). Any unused days beyond this limit will be forfeited.
07
Check Pay Data
This is the sixth row of your LES, where you will see Information on your housing status, cola rate, and housing allowance.
- BAQ Type is the type of housing you are claiming. If you are a single soldier, it should say partial, meaning you live in the barracks. Another common option is W/DEP, which means you are claiming dependents for your housing allowance.
- BAQ depn is what kind of dependent you claim. Options would be spouse, child, or blank.
- VHA ZIP is the zip code for your housing allowance
- JFTR code is the code for the base you are in for cola. Humphreys is KR035, Casey is KR177, and Walker is KR045
- DEPNS is the code for your cola rate; if you are receiving meal deductions it is 9 and if you are not it is 0. If you have have command sponsorship, then this code reflects the amount of dependents you have here in Korea with you
08
Check your remarks
Here, you will find any changes to your pay that were made on the month your LES was published.