Military Transition Assistance Program (TAP): An Overview (CRS Report for Congress)
| Release Date |
Revised July 12, 2018 |
| Report Number |
IF10347 |
| Report Type |
In Focus |
| Authors |
Kristy N. Kamarck |
| Source Agency |
Congressional Research Service |
| Older Revisions |
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Summary:
The military Transition Assistance Program (TAP) was
established by Congress in the National Defense
Authorization Act (NDAA) for Fiscal Year 1991 (P.L. 101-
510). The original purpose of the program was to help ease
the transition to civilian life for military servicemembers
who were involuntarily separated as part of the force
structure drawdowns of the late 1980s. From 1991 to 2011,
Congressional interest in the program remained high,
particularly in regard to troops who served in combat in
Iraq and Afghanistan.
In 2011, Congress passed the VOW (Veterans Opportunity
to Work) to Hire Heroes Act (Title II of P.L. 112-56),
which made a pre-separation counseling program
mandatory for all servicemembers with at least 180
continuous days of active duty. Current law requires
servicemembers to begin participating in TAP as soon as
possible during the 24-month period preceding an
anticipated retirement date or 12-month period preceding
the anticipated separation date. It also specifies that preseparation
counseling should commence no later than 90
days before the date of discharge or release unless
precluded by unanticipated circumstances or operational
requirements.
In 2011 the Obama Administration established the
Veterans’ Employment Initiative Task Force with the
Departments of Defense (DOD) and Veterans Affairs (VA)
and charged the task force with redesigning TAP. The
redesigned Transition GPS (Goals, Plans, Success) program
includes a Military Life Cycle component that starts
preparing the service member for civilian transition at the
beginning of his or her military career and at certain
milestones (e.g., promotion, deployment) throughout that
career. At each of these milestones, servicemembers are
made aware of Career Readiness Standards (CRSs) and are
given opportunities to review and adjust personal financial
planning objectives and individual development plans. Over
time, Congress has also increased the number and scope of
required TAP counseling topics (see Table 1).
