Getting out: what to do before and after your last day

TAP is required if you've been on active duty for 180 or more days in a row. It must start no later than 365 days before you separate. Retirees should start at least two years ahead. If your separation is sudden, or you're a Reserve member demobilizing with less than a year left, TAP starts as soon as possible.

TAP is more than a class. It's where you build your Individual Transition Plan, learn what VA and the Department of Labor offer, and pick a track for what comes next.

• Initial counseling and pre-separation counseling: your plan, and the benefits you've earned.
• Transition Day: managing the move, turning your military skills into civilian credentials, and money planning.
• VA Benefits and Services: a one-day class on health care, disability, education and home loans.
• Department of Labor Employment Fundamentals: how the civilian job search works.
• A two-day track (pick at least one): Employment, Vocational, Education, or Entrepreneurship (Boots to Business, from the SBA).
• Capstone, no later than 90 days before you leave: your command confirms you have a workable plan.

Source: Military OneSource: Transition Assistance Program

DoD SkillBridge lets you spend up to your last 180 days of service in civilian job training, an apprenticeship or an internship with an approved organization. You're still in the military while you do it.

You need your unit commander's approval, so ask early. Many programs fill months ahead.

Source: Military OneSource: DoD SkillBridge

With Benefit Delivery at Discharge (BDD), you file your disability claim 180 to 90 days before you leave the military. You must be able to go to VA exams within 45 days of filing. Filing early can mean your first payment comes much sooner after you get out.

If you have fewer than 90 days left, you can't use BDD, but you can still file a claim before you separate, or a standard claim after.

List every injury and condition from service, even small ones. Free, accredited help is available from a Veterans Service Organization or your county Veterans service office.

Source: VA.gov: Pre-discharge claim (last updated June 18, 2026)

Your TRICARE coverage changes when you leave. Some separating members, including those separated involuntarily and Guard and Reserve members leaving after more than 30 days in a row on certain orders, get 180 days of free transitional coverage (TAMP). Retirees can keep TRICARE.

Apply for VA health care before or right after you get out. Combat Veterans discharged on or after September 11, 2001 have 10 years of enhanced eligibility after discharge, and Veterans exposed to toxins or hazards in service can now enroll. Apply right away so the clock works for you.

VA may give you one-time dental care if you apply within 180 days after discharge and your DD-214 doesn't show a complete dental exam and all needed treatment.

Sources: TRICARE: Transitional Assistance Management Program; VA.gov: Health care eligibility; VA.gov: Dental care

If your service ended on or after January 1, 2013, your Post-9/11 GI Bill doesn't expire.

Want to give it to your spouse or children? You must request the transfer while you're still serving, through milConnect. You need at least 6 years of service when it's approved and must agree to serve 4 more. After you get out, it's too late.

Use the GI Bill Comparison Tool to see what a school or program pays before you sign up.

Sources: VA.gov: Post-9/11 GI Bill; VA.gov: Transfer your Post-9/11 GI Bill benefits

For most VA benefits, what counts is time on federal active-duty orders, and how your service ended. Drill and annual training count differently, so have a free accredited representative read your record.

Injuries from drill or annual training can still be service-connected. Keep your orders and your line-of-duty paperwork.

• Coming off orders: you may get 180 days of TAMP health coverage after more than 30 days in a row on certain orders, and TAP if you served 180 or more days in a row.
• Education: the Montgomery GI Bill–Selected Reserve is for drilling members who agreed to a 6-year Selected Reserve obligation. Time on federal active-duty orders can also count toward the Post-9/11 GI Bill.
• Health coverage while drilling: TRICARE Reserve Select is a premium-based plan for Selected Reserve members.
• Your civilian job: USERRA protects it when you're called up, and requires your employer to bring you back.
• After a deployment: the Yellow Ribbon Reintegration Program has events for you and your family.
• Combat deployment: the 10-year enhanced VA health care window applies to you too.

Sources: VA.gov: Montgomery GI Bill Selected Reserve; TRICARE: Transitional Assistance Management Program; TRICARE Reserve Select; DOL: USERRA

Spouses and caregivers are encouraged to attend pre-separation counseling with the service member. Free career coaching for military spouses is available through Military OneSource's Spouse Education and Career Opportunities program.

Source: Military OneSource: Transition Assistance Program