The Transition Assistance Program (TAP) prepares service members who are about to transition out of the military and begin their civilian careers. Through the years, TAP has gone through several changes, continually working to provide better resources and tools that transitioning service members can use as they leave the military and start their next journey.
This year, like years past, TAP continues to evolve and change to help ensure that transitioning service members have the best resources available when they transition. The newest version of TAP is set to be tested in the fall of 2024 with a wide release planned for January 2025.
The Program Currently
Currently, TAP provides approximately 200,000 transitioning service members training at over 200 locations around the globe. To remain relevant for service members, DoD and federal interagency partners are continually reviewing and assessing the TAP training provided. With the help of service members, military services, interagency partners, and non-governmental organizations they are annually able to update and change the TAP program.
Michael C. Miller, Director, of the Military-Civilian Transition Office (MCTO) gives an overview of TAP, “TAP provides these Service members with transition assistance, information, training, counseling, and services to be career-ready upon separation, retirement, or release from active duty, enabling them to pursue additional education, seek or return to employment in the public or private sector, pursue vocational training, and/or start their own business.
One of the things missing from TAP when I transitioned in 2013 was a focus on loss of purpose and identity. DoD has recognized this common struggle with veterans and because of this has made changes and continues to update and improve TAP to focus on this unique challenge for veterans.
Addressing the real issue
Michael C. Miller, Director, MCTO said, “Research-based evidence highlights the prominence of loss of purpose and identity as critical challenges faced by transitioning Service members and veterans. Correspondingly, TAP provides information and education to provide a deeper understanding of the implications of these issues, how they relate to the individual experiences of service members, and strategies for addressing them effectively.”
Addressing the loss of identity and purpose is crucial for helping service members prepare for the next phase of life after military service. Finding a new career is important and one of the ways veterans can find purpose. A new civilian job often doesn’t have the same significance and impact on veterans that the military did. And for those who leave the military for a non-traditional path, can struggle to find who they are without military service and purpose.
an ever-evolving environment
The 2019 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) pushed for sweeping changes for TAP. Those changes included a requirement to start the training more than 365 days before separation, with a recommendation of two years to provide ample time to prepare. It also included initial counseling and tier support levels to help the service member receive the support they need in transition. Mandatory training days were reduced from five days to three.
Michael Miller, Director, MCTO highlights the importance of continual improvements when it comes to TAP saying” Military to civilian transition is an ever-evolving, complex, and multi-faceted environment in which the diversity of individual goals equals the number of transitioning service members.”
