Drill Pay Calculator: Estimate Gross Reserve Drill Pay for 2026
Pick a pay grade and years of service, enter the drill periods and annual training days you worked, and the calculator returns the gross pay the Defense Finance and Accounting Service (DFAS) table gives for them. The rest of the page explains what that number is, how it is built, and how it relates to taxes and to the travel deduction.
Calculate your drill pay
How the calculator works
The DFAS table lists the gross pay for one drill period. DFAS defines that figure as 1/30 of monthly basic pay, and the table treats 4 drill periods as one standard drill weekend. The calculator looks up the amount for your pay grade and years of service and multiplies it by the number of units you enter. Nothing else is added or subtracted, so the answer is only as accurate as the inputs.
The annual training box works the same way. Each day you enter counts as one unit of 1/30 of monthly basic pay, the same size as one drill period. Because the DFAS table itself is about drill periods, your orders and your pay statement decide how a particular stretch of duty is actually paid. Treat the annual training line as a planning shortcut, not a promise.
The years-of-service choices are the column headings DFAS prints, such as "Over 4", and they are shown as printed. A choice marked as having no entry means the DFAS table leaves that cell empty for that pay grade, so the calculator will not select it.
A worked example, step by step
Take an invented E-5 in the "Over 6" column. The table gives $137.00 for one drill period. One weekend is 4 periods, so $137.00 x 4 = $548.00. A year with 12 weekends is 48 drill periods, and with 15 days of annual training the unit count is 48 + 15 = 63. Then $137.00 x 48 = $6,576.00 for the weekends and $137.00 x 15 = $2,055.00 for annual training, which adds up to $8,631.00 for the year. Multiplying the one-period figure by 30 gives $4,110.00, the monthly basic pay that DFAS says the period amount is one-thirtieth of.
Common cases
These rows use the same table and the same arithmetic as the calculator. The weekend column is 4 drill periods. The year column is 12 drill weekends (48 drill periods) plus 15 days of annual training, counted at one unit per day. They are examples for comparison, not a description of any one person.
| Pay grade | Years of service | One drill period | One weekend | 12 weekends + 15 days |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| E-4 | Over 4 | $121.95 | $487.80 | $7,682.85 |
| E-5 | Over 6 | $137.00 | $548.00 | $8,631.00 |
| E-6 | Over 10 | $158.65 | $634.60 | $9,994.95 |
| O-1 | Over 2 | $144.00 | $576.00 | $9,072.00 |
| O-3 | Over 6 | $257.90 | $1,031.60 | $16,247.70 |
Is drill pay taxable?
Yes, in general. Publication 3 lists drills and reserve training, along with basic pay and active duty, among the items of government pay that are included in gross income. Form W-2 is where the total shows up: Publication 3 says it shows your total pay and other compensation and the income tax, social security tax and Medicare tax withheld during the year. So the calculator's gross figure is the kind of number that feeds your W-2 wages, not a number you subtract from them.
One exception matters for reservists who deploy. Publication 3 says gross income does not include compensation for active service for any month during any part of which you served in a combat zone or qualified hazardous duty area. Ordinarily you do nothing for this to apply, because the exclusion is reflected on your Form W-2. The other tax breaks guide covers the officer limit and the earned income credit election.
Drill pay and the travel deduction are separate
Drill pay is income, and the reservist travel deduction is an adjustment for what you spent to get to duty more than 100 miles from home. Neither figure is computed from the other. The deduction is limited to expenses you were not reimbursed for, and Form 2106 subtracts reimbursements on line 7 before a total is figured. If you drive a long way to drill, the travel deduction calculator on the home page works out a possible deduction from your miles, nights and meals. It does not use drill pay, and this page does not use travel costs.
Which pay grades are covered
Enlisted grades E-1 to E-9, warrant officer grades W-1 to W-5 and officer grades O-1 to O-7 are included, together with the separate DFAS table for officers in grades O-1E to O-3E, which covers officers with more than four years of creditable service. DFAS leaves some cells empty, mostly for the most senior grades in the first few years of service, and the calculator follows the table.
A note on the source tables
The figures were copied from four DFAS pages: Reserve Component Drill Pay for enlisted members, for warrant officers, for officers, and the separate table for officers in grades O-1 to O-3 with more than four years of creditable service, each effective January 1, 2026. DFAS blocks automated downloads, so the tables were copied by hand from a browser and checked against each other. On the enlisted page, 4 of the E-1 entries, all in the highest years-of-service columns, repeat E-9 amounts, which looks like an error on the page. In those entries the flat E-1 amount shown in every other E-1 column was used. This changes only the E-1 row at the very top of the years-of-service range.
Gross pay is not take-home pay
Your actual pay statement can differ from the result because of withholding, allowances, special pays, rounding and the rules that apply to your own orders. Use this page to plan and compare, then rely on your pay statement and your finance office for the real number.
When the numbers change
DFAS publishes new drill pay tables each January. This page was built from the tables effective January 1, 2026. When the next tables are released the figures here are replaced, so check the effective date before you rely on an amount.
Related guides
- A Worked Example: One Drilling Year
- Other tax breaks for reservists
- Common mistakes on the travel deduction
- Records to Keep
- Frequently Asked Questions
- All guides
Sources
- DFAS drill pay tables for the reserve components, effective January 1, 2026 (enlisted, warrant officers, officers, and officers O-1 to O-3 with more than 4 years of creditable service), published on dfas.mil.
- IRS Publication 3, Armed Forces' Tax Guide
- IRS Instructions for Form 2106