RAMSTEIN AIR BASE, Germany -- When looking at a leave and earnings statement, it probably looks like a page with a bunch of boxes and 78 different things that don't make sense.

However, understanding an LES is important because it lists your military pay, allowances and earned leave.

This single page establishes how much money someone receives during a month. Changes made by the owner or as a result of deployment or training, negligent debt or change in laws are -- they're all shown on the LES.

"Nobody works for free," said Tech. Sgt. Chad Spivey, 86th Comptroller Squadron military pay NCOIC. "Reviewing your LES will save you time, stress and financial hardship. It is your pay and you should want to know how to check it."

With that in mind, here are a few things you might want to pay attention to on your LES:

1. (Box 10) Entitlements - In this box you'll find the base pay for any Airman at your pay grade. You can also see any allowances you may receive like, cost of living, housing and food.

2. (Box 11) Deductions - Here you can find any deductions taken from your pay. Deductions may be any taxes, social security or life insurance. You can also see your mid-month-pay.

3. (Box 12) Allotments - This box lists deductions, including voluntary or required payments, that are made to individuals, institutions or agencies. These deductions may include money going to savings or checking accounts, insurance or bonds.

4. (Box 19) End of month pay - This box has the actual amount of money received at the end of the month.

5. (Box 28) Leave - This shows the current leave balance available based on the leave you have earned minus the amount you have used. In Box 32, any leave lost by not using it is listed. If you are planning talking leave or interested in how many days you have earned then you can look at box 28.

6. (Box 76) Remarks - This is the box used to explain any changes to pay and displays notices from the command. If there are changes in any other box on your LES, you will find a written explanation of it here.

If you think there may be a mistake on your LES, contact the base finance office or administrative unit for help as soon as possible. If you are unsure of where to go, click the link for myPay on the Air Force Portal or go to mypay.dfas.mil/mypay.aspx for help.

If you still need help or further explination, the 86th CPTS financial service office offers a customer service counter, open from 9 to 11 a.m, Mondays through Fridays in Bldg. 2108.

For a more in-depth explanation on how to read your LES, click the related link at the top of the page.