Go through all what??? Make a phone call? Uhhh, yeah, I guess that's what I was suggesting. If he wanted to be reasonably sure he was getting an accurate answer.

Or, he could post a question on a forum and hope that the nameless 2Lt, who gave a take home pay figure with no explanation whatsoever about how he arrived at it, knew what he was talking about. Never mind the variables on exemptions, marital status, training location, etc. Nahhhh, I'm sure the take home figure will be accurate down to the penny - what was I thinking??

Good motto. Part of being smart is not wasting time only to end up with a questionable result. Using this message board in lieu of the other many resources he has available isn't "working smart", IMO. In this case, using the military pay professionals at his Guard unit or via telephone at the base he will be attending UPT is probably the "smartest" way to get a real answer.