Editorial Policy: How We Verify Data
Every number on this site comes from a published primary source, is stored with that source's name, link, and effective date, and is tested before a page goes live. If no document can be found for a number, the number is not published.
Which sources count
Only documents issued by the service or agency that sets the rule count as sources: Army directives and Army scoring scales, Marine Corps orders and MARADMIN messages, Air Force manuals and Air Force Personnel Center scoring charts, Navy NAVADMIN messages and program guides, DFAS pay tables, and federal law or congressional documents for pay.
News articles, other calculators, and forum posts can point to a new document, but they are never used as the source for a number. The sources page lists every document in use.
How a table is built
Each table is copied from the source document line by line into a data file. Every row in that file carries four fields: the document name, its link, its effective date, and the date it was last checked against the document. Calculators and charts read only from these data files, so a chart and a calculator on the same topic cannot disagree.
How calculators are tested
Before a calculator goes live, at least ten test cases are taken directly from the source table, such as a run time and the points the table gives for it. The site will not build if any calculator returns a different value. The same code runs in your browser and in the tests.
When dates change
A page's "Updated" date changes only when something on it changes: a new order, a corrected value, or a new scenario such as a pay raise becoming law. Each change is recorded in the change log with the date, the page, the document, and what changed. Dates are never refreshed just to look current.
Proposed rules and projections
Some numbers are not final yet, such as a pay raise that Congress has not settled. Those numbers are labeled with their exact status and the document they come from, and they are replaced as soon as the final figures are published.
Errors
If you find a mistake, email the address on the contact page with the document that shows the right value. Confirmed errors are fixed and logged.