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DFAS — the Defense Finance and Accounting Service — issues your pay on the official DoD payday: the 15th (mid-month) and the 1st of the following month (end-of-month), moved to the business day before if that falls on a weekend or holiday. Here is the full 2026 schedule.
| Month | Mid-month payday (15th) | End-of-month payday (1st) |
|---|---|---|
| January | Thu, Jan 15 | Fri, Jan 30 |
| February | Fri, Feb 13 | Fri, Feb 27 |
| March | Fri, Mar 13 | Wed, Apr 1 |
| April | Wed, Apr 15 | Fri, May 1 |
| May | Fri, May 15 | Mon, Jun 1 |
| June | Mon, Jun 15 | Wed, Jul 1 |
| July | Wed, Jul 15 | Fri, Jul 31 |
| August | Fri, Aug 14 | Tue, Sep 1 |
| September | Tue, Sep 15 | Thu, Oct 1 |
| October | Thu, Oct 15 | Fri, Oct 30 |
| November | Fri, Nov 13 | Tue, Dec 1 |
| December | Tue, Dec 15 | Fri, Jan 1 |
Dates are calculated from the DoD schedule (mid-month = 15th, end-of-month = 1st) rolled back to the preceding business day for weekends and federal holidays. Verify against DFAS or your bank if you are timing a payment. Not financial advice.
Reading your LES. Your Leave and Earnings Statement in myPay shows entitlements, deductions, allotments, and leave for each pay period — the record of what actually hit each payday.
Plan the whole check. Size your pay with the military pay calculator, your BAH, and if you drill, drill pay.
DFAS is the Defense Finance and Accounting Service — the agency that calculates and disburses pay for active-duty, Reserve, and Guard members, as well as military retirees and annuitants. It generates the payroll file, and your pay is issued on the official DoD payday.
Twice a month: mid-month pay on the 15th and end-of-month pay on the 1st of the following month. When the 1st or 15th falls on a weekend or federal holiday, DFAS issues the pay on the preceding business day, so some 2026 paydays land on the 13th or 14th.
No. DFAS transmits pay for the official date. What looks like "early" pay is your bank making the funds available ahead of settlement because it received the DFAS payroll file first. Navy Federal typically posts about one business day early and USAA up to two; a standard bank posts on the official date.
Log in to myPay, the DFAS self-service portal, to view your Leave and Earnings Statement (LES). The LES breaks down your entitlements (base pay, BAH, BAS), deductions, allotments, and leave balance for each pay period. myPay is also where you update direct deposit and tax withholding.
Retired pay and annuitant pay are issued once a month, on the first business day of the following month — a different schedule from the twice-a-month active-duty cycle covered here.
Mid-month pay is roughly half of your monthly entitlement. Some deductions — like SGLI, TSP, and certain allotments — may be weighted to one paycheck, so the two halves are not always identical. Your LES in myPay shows exactly what came out of each.
See the full 2026 military pay schedule, or your bank's early-posting dates: USAA · Navy Federal.