Drill Pay Is Four Pay Periods per Weekend

• A standard two-day drill weekend normally contains 4 paid periods, and each period pays 1/30 of monthly basic pay.
• An E-5 over 6 years earns $137 per drill and $548 gross for 4 drills under the 2026 DFAS enlisted table.
• A typical 14-day annual training order uses active-duty-day pay and generally pays non-locality BAH RC/T when the order is 30 days or fewer.
• A rescheduled drill is payable only after the authorized periods are completed, attendance is certified, and payroll receives the transaction.
• On your Reserve LES, Field 9 shows the check date; use Fields 14, 15, 17, 18, 19, and 76 to reconcile the payment.

A two-day drill weekend normally earns four units of pay

A Saturday-Sunday drill weekend normally pays as four drill periods, not two calendar days. Each completed drill period pays 1/30 of your monthly basic pay.

Use this calculation:

• 1 drill period: monthly basic pay ÷ 30
• 4-period drill weekend: monthly basic pay ÷ 30 × 4
• 12 standard drill weekends: 48 paid drill periods

Army National Guard units often call one period a Unit Training Assembly, or UTA. A four-period weekend is a MUTA-4: commonly two UTAs on Saturday and two on Sunday. The Army National Guard drill explanation describes four assemblies per weekend and the usual two-week annual training period.

An E-5 with over six years of service had 2026 monthly basic pay of $4,110. The math for a standard weekend is straightforward:

1. Divide $4,110 by 30: $137 per drill.
2. Multiply $137 by four completed periods: $548 gross drill pay.

Calling this “two days of pay” creates the wrong expectation. You physically work across two days, but you earn four basic-pay units. Each paid inactive-duty training period also generally produces one retirement point, so a standard four-period weekend generally produces four points.

The annual planning model is often 48 drill periods plus approximately 14 days of annual training. Your schedule can differ. Longer drill weekends, additional training periods, schools, mobilizations, and rescheduled training change the total.

Your grade and service time determine your drill rate

Your drill-pay rate comes from the same two variables used for active-duty basic pay:

1. Your pay grade: E-1 through E-9, W-1 through W-5, or the applicable officer grade.
2. Your cumulative years of service: the longevity column shown on the pay table.

DFAS publishes separate drill tables for enlisted members, warrant officers, commissioned officers, and O-1 through O-3 officers with more than four years of qualifying enlisted or warrant service. The 2026 rates took effect January 1, 2026.

The 2026 DFAS enlisted drill-pay table provides both a “1 Drill” amount and a “4 Drills” amount. You can compare the underlying monthly rate using the 2026 enlisted basic-pay chart.

These figures are gross basic pay. They are not guaranteed deposits.

Your years-of-service credit is not limited to time in your present unit. Active and reserve service can count toward the longevity column. If the table amount does not match your expectation, verify your pay entry base date, grade, and promotion effective date with your personnel or pay office.

A promotion or newly crossed longevity threshold can move you into another table cell. The change must reach both the personnel and payroll records before the corrected rate appears. If it does not, keep the promotion order or service-date documentation and report the discrepancy promptly.

Gross drill pay is not your bank deposit

The “4 Drills” amount is gross basic pay before deductions. Your deposit can be lower because of:

• Federal and applicable state income-tax withholding
• Social Security and Medicare taxes
• Servicemembers’ Group Life Insurance or other insurance deductions
• Thrift Savings Plan contributions
• Debts, collections, or prior-period corrections

Reserve payroll has a withholding trap. One drill counts as one pay period for additional federal or state withholding. If you request an additional $5 per pay period, a four-period weekend can generate $20 in additional withholding. A full active-duty day also counts as one Reserve pay period for this purpose.

Do not diagnose a pay problem from the deposit alone. A $548 gross drill weekend will not produce a $548 deposit after normal deductions. A correction from an earlier month can raise or reduce the payment further.

Ordinary inactive-duty drills also do not generate BAH merely because you traveled to your unit or spent two days away from home. Housing allowance rules change when you enter an authorized active-duty status, such as annual training.

Annual training pays by active-duty day

Annual training, or AT, follows the active-duty-day model. For each authorized day, you generally receive:

• 1/30 of monthly basic pay
• Prorated Basic Allowance for Subsistence, subject to entitlement and meal rules
• The applicable housing allowance
• Authorized special or incentive pay, if any

A typical annual training period is about 14 days, but your orders control. Do not calculate AT by multiplying the four-drill weekend amount.

For a 2026 E-5 over six years on 14 days of AT:

• Basic pay: $4,110 ÷ 30 × 14 = $1,918.00
• Enlisted BAS illustration: $476.95 ÷ 30 × 14 = $222.58
• Illustrated subtotal: $2,140.58

That subtotal excludes housing allowance, deductions, travel reimbursements, special pays, and meal or entitlement adjustments. The 2026 officer BAS monthly rate is $328.48. BAS depends on the member’s status, not whether the member has dependents.

AT travel reimbursement is separate from basic pay and allowances. Do not treat a delayed travel voucher as missing drill pay. Compare your orders, duty dates, LES entitlements, and travel settlement separately. The Military Pay and PCS Workspace can help you compare basic pay and housing figures when planning longer orders or a move.

“BAH Type II” usually means non-locality BAH RC/T

The current official term is BAH Reserve Component/Transit, written BAH RC/T or BAH-RC. “BAH Type II” and “BAH-II” remain common shorthand. Do not confuse either term with BAS II, which is a separate subsistence allowance.

For a Reserve Component member ordered to active duty for 30 or fewer days, when the duty is not supporting a contingency operation, BAH RC/T generally begins on the first active-duty day. It is a non-locality allowance. The rate varies by pay grade and dependent status, but not by your home ZIP code.

A normal 14-day AT order generally does not pay the full local BAH rate associated with your primary residence. It usually pays BAH RC/T. The DoD explanation of BAH RC/T and other housing-allowance types provides the current terminology.

If an order originally written for 30 or fewer days is extended so the prospective period becomes 31 or more days, regular BAH or OHA begins on the extension date and BAH RC/T stops. Separate active-duty periods divided by a break in service are not automatically combined to cross the 30-day threshold.

Read the order type, start date, end date, amendments, and contingency authority. The label “two weeks of AT” is not enough to determine every entitlement.

Rescheduled and split drills require approval and certification

Rescheduled Training, commonly called RST, lets you perform authorized training on another date in place of a scheduled drill period. Equivalent Training, or ET, is another term used for qualifying substituted training.

The pay calculation remains period-based:

• One authorized and completed replacement period earns one drill-pay unit.
• Four moved periods still earn four units.
• Moving the dates does not create four replacement units plus four units for the missed weekend.
• An absence does not automatically become paid RST.

You cannot select another drill date on your own and expect payment. Authorization, performance, attendance certification, and payroll submission are separate steps. If one is missing, the pay may not appear.

“Split drill” can mean the unit divided a MUTA schedule across several dates. It can also mean you received approval to complete your periods separately from the main assembly. Forms, approval authority, notice requirements, and completion deadlines vary by service, component, state, and unit. Members of the Air Reserve Component may encounter different local terminology than Army Guard members.

Before missing the scheduled assembly:

1. Ask who has authority to approve the alternate training.
2. Obtain approval through your unit’s required process.
3. Confirm how many periods you are authorized to perform.
4. Complete the training and ensure attendance is certified.
5. Check the next LES for the correct number of paid periods.

A verbal “we’ll work it out” is weak protection. Keep the written approval, duty dates, attendance record, and any email confirming payroll submission.

Reconcile your Reserve LES field by field

Your Reserve or Guard Leave and Earnings Statement is available through myPay. For Reserve Component members, Field 9, PERIOD COVERED, shows the check date. It does not necessarily identify the dates you drilled. This creates confusion when a drill is submitted late or paid in another cycle.

Use the DFAS Reserve and National Guard LES guide to locate the fields. Some labels in the guide, including BAQ, VHA, and JFTR, are legacy terms; current housing policy uses BAH terminology.

Fields 23 and 24 are not used for Reserve and National Guard members. Fields 33–49 cover federal, Social Security, Medicare, and state tax information. Fields 63–75 show TSP election rates, current deductions, and year-to-date amounts.

Field 61 can help Army Reserve and National Guard members identify the training category. DFAS examples include A for normal pay status or regular duty, C for funeral honors duty, M for annual training tours over 30 days, T for ADT over 29 days for school, and Z for administrative and support training excluding recruiting.

Use this five-step check when the deposit looks wrong

1. Identify the duty status. Separate inactive-duty drill periods from annual training or other active-duty orders.
2. Count certified units. A normal weekend should usually show four paid periods, while AT is calculated by active-duty days.
3. Verify the table cell. Check grade and cumulative years of service against the current DFAS table.
4. Reconcile the LES. Compare TOT ENT, TOT DED, AMT FWD, CR FWD, EOM PAY, and REMARKS instead of looking only at the deposit.
5. Send documentation to the unit pay office. Include the drill dates, number of periods, orders or RST approval, attendance proof, LES, grade, and service-date evidence.

For an ordinary four-period weekend, start with monthly basic pay ÷ 30 × 4. Match that gross expectation against the LES. If the entitlement itself is wrong—rather than reduced by taxes or TSP—send the discrepancy to your readiness, personnel, or servicing pay office with the supporting records.

Questions people actually ask

Do you get four days of pay for a two-day drill weekend?

You normally receive four basic-pay units across the two calendar days. Each completed drill period pays 1/30 of monthly basic pay, so a standard four-period weekend pays 4/30. This does not mean you served four active-duty calendar days. It means the inactive-duty training system uses four separately paid periods.

How do I calculate my drill pay?

Find monthly basic pay for your grade and cumulative years of service, divide it by 30, and multiply by the number of authorized periods completed. An E-5 over six years had 2026 monthly basic pay of $4,110, producing $137 per drill and $548 gross for four drills. Your deposit will be lower after deductions.

Do Guard and Reserve members get BAH during drill weekend?

Ordinary inactive-duty drills do not create a BAH entitlement merely because you attended drill. Housing allowance may apply during active-duty orders. For non-contingency orders of 30 or fewer days, such as normal 14-day annual training, the usual allowance is non-locality BAH RC/T rather than full BAH based on your home ZIP code.

Will I be paid if I reschedule a drill?

You can be paid for approved Rescheduled Training after you complete the authorized periods and the unit certifies and submits them. A missed drill does not automatically become paid RST, and changing the date does not create extra pay. Four replacement periods still equal four pay units. Approval procedures and deadlines vary by service, state, component, and unit.

Why does my Reserve LES not show the dates I drilled?

Field 9, PERIOD COVERED, shows the check date for Reserve and National Guard members, not necessarily the actual drill dates. Check ENTITLEMENTS and REMARKS for the payment or correction, then reconcile TOT ENT, TOT DED, AMT FWD, CR FWD, and EOM PAY. Ask the unit pay office whether attendance was certified and submitted if a period is missing.