VA's underwriter will look at the expiration date of your current contract on your LES. If it falls within 12 months of when the loan will close, your income is treated as uncertain unless the file shows it continues. That is a solvable problem - VA lists exactly what solves it.
For enlisted members, the lender finds the expiration of term of service on your LES. For Guard and Reserve members serving on active duty, it also looks at when the current active-duty tour ends. If that date is within 12 months of the projected closing, the loan package needs one of the items below, or a combination of them.
Documentation that your service has been extended to a date beyond 12 months after the projected closing.
Verification of a valid offer of local civilian employment, and/or of military retirement income following release from active duty.
Your statement that you intend to re-enlist or extend beyond the 12-month window, plus your commanding officer's statement that you are eligible and they have no reason to think it will not be granted.
Documentation of other unusual strong positive underwriting factors. VA gives examples: a down payment of at least 10 percent from your own assets, at least 6 months of payments in cash after the down payment, or strong community ties with a non-military spouse whose income is so high that little of yours is needed.
Those last examples are illustrations of strength, not a fixed menu - VA frames them as "such as".
Officers with an open-ended date. If your LES shows an ETS of 888888 or 000000, none of this documentation is required, unless there is evidence you have resigned your commission.
Reservists on activation. VA's own example: a reservist whose orders say active duty will not exceed the next 60 days cannot have that active-duty income considered, so civilian employment and drill pay are used instead. An activated Guard or Reserve member must present orders showing the current tour will not exceed 12 months, and where civilian pay is lower than activation pay, VA's example qualifies on the civilian figure.
What counts from your LES in the first place - BAH, BAS, sea pay - is on BAH and sea pay as income.
Source: VA Pamphlet 26-7, Lender's Handbook, Chapter 4, Topic 2(k) Active Military Borrower's Income, and the activated Reserve and National Guard guidance in Topic 2 (current versions on KnowVA). VA rules change; confirm before relying on them. Lenders may apply their own additional requirements. Not a commitment to lend.
One conversation covers your VA eligibility, a BAH-smart budget and an honest read on the local market - from a broker whose office is on Ashley Phosphate Road, not in a call center.