An official website of the United States government
A .mil website belongs to an official U.S. Department of Defense organization in the United States.
A lock (lock ) or https:// means you’ve safely connected to the .mil website. Share sensitive information only on official, secure websites.

Home : News : Article View
NEWS | Oct. 23, 2012

Officials improve process for transitioning to civilian life

By David Vergun Army News Service

WASHINGTON - Officials from the Defense and Veterans Affairs departments participated in a panel discussion here Oct. 19 on efforts to prepare service members for the transition to civilian life.

Danny Pummill, director of VA/DOD liaison for Veterans Affairs, and Susan S.
Kelly, director of DOD's Transition to Veterans Program Office, explained the new Transition Assistance Program during the 10th annual Military Reporters and Editors Conference.

"This isn't your death-by-PowerPoint TAP from the 1990s," Pummill said, referring to a side-intensive one-day seminar for transitioning service members in days gone by. "[The new TAP] is well planned and thought out.

"[TAP] is an adult, interactive learning environment similar to college, with small-group [discussions], as well as one-on-one-counseling," he said. "It used to be we had a classroom of upwards of 350 people. Now, our max is 50, and spouses are encouraged to attend."

A number of pilot studies were conducted over the past year, Kelly said, including with the National Guard and reserves.

"We found that the needs of singles separating from a first tour were different than, say, a career soldier with a family getting ready to retire," she said. "We also found that each of the services have different cultures and 'personalities.' For example, Soldiers and Marines respond to [information] differently than a roomful of airmen."

The new TAP will feature pre-separation classes ranging from health care, life insurance and disability to higher education, vocational training and home loans, Kelly said, and other parts of the VOWS Act will be implemented in phases through 2014.

the end of 2013, Transition Goals-Plans-Success, known as GPS, will replace TAP, Kelly said. She explained that GPS is a classroom and one-on-one session with service members and their spouses to formulate a plan, including a detailed budget.

The plan could be vocational training or college, she explained, in which case the service member would meet with a representative from that institution and begin the paperwork process. Service members wanting to start a business would meet with a representative from the Small Business Administration to go over the feasibility of their business plan and funding resources.

For those wanting to enter the private or government sector workforce, she said, career planners would assist with resume writing and job searches, and meetings could be arranged with subject-matter experts in the targeted occupational fields. Service members also would have a "Plan B" in place in case something didn't work out.

Other aspects of the plan include meetings with counselors to focus on the social and psychological factors, which Kelly said are just as important to transitioning service members because they are used to living in a structured environment and need to be better prepared to be on their own.

Kelly said special efforts are being made to reach out to Guard and reserve service members to ensure they are getting all the assistance they need. For those living far from military installations, she said, transition teams would be sent out, and some training that otherwise would take place in a classroom could be done in a "virtual classroom" setting.

the end of 2014, service members will prepare for transitioning "across their military life cycle," Kelly said. In other words, training programs with timetables will be formally instituted as soon as a service member enters the military. "In addition to being 'military ready,' they will now be 'career ready,'" she added.

The transition effort established by the VOW Act is a joint effort of the Defense Labor, VA, and Education departments, along with the Small Business Administration, the Office of Personnel Management and the White House Domestic Policy Council.

"If someone told me six government agencies would come up with a plan, I wouldn't have believed it would work," said Pummill, who served in the Army for 34 years. "I've been meeting with them for a year now, and we're working things through.

"It's a model for how government agencies can get together and share manpower and resources and do the right thing, in this case for service member, and this is best plan possible to take care of our service members," he added.

 

 

Related Articles
Lt. Gen. H. Steven Blum, chief of the National Guard Bureau, Maj. Gen. Russel Honore, Task Force Katrina commander, and Brig. Gen. John Basilica, 256th Infantry Brigade Combat Team commander, talk to news media during the aftermath of Hurricane Rita on Sep. 29, 2005. Basilica was appointed commander of Task Force Pelican, responsible for coordinating National Guard hurricane response efforts across the State. The task force included tens of thousands of National Guard Soldiers from Louisiana and other states.
Louisiana Guard’s Tiger Brigade Marks 20th Anniversary of Redeployment and Hurricane Response
By Rhett Breerwood, | Aug. 29, 2025
NEW ORLEANS – This fall, the Louisiana National Guard’s 256th Infantry Brigade Combat Team, known as the Tiger Brigade, commemorates the 20th anniversary of its redeployment from Iraq in September 2005, coinciding with the...

Alaska Air National Guard HH-60G Pave Hawk aviators and Guardian Angels, assigned to the 210th and 212th Rescue Squadrons, respectively, conduct a hoist rescue demonstration while participating in a multi-agency hoist symposium at Bryant Army Airfield on Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson, Alaska, July 22, 2025. The symposium, hosted by Alaska Army National Guard aviators assigned to Golf Company, 2-211th General Support Aviation Battalion, included U.S. Coast Guard crews assigned to Sector Western Alaska and U.S. Arctic out of Air Stations Kodiak and Sitka, Alaska Air National Guardsmen with the 176th Wing rescue squadrons, U.S. Army aviators from Fort Wainwright’s 1-52nd General Support Aviation Battalion, Alaska State Troopers, and civilian search and rescue professional volunteers from the Alaska Mountain Rescue Group. The collaborative training drew on the participants’ varied backgrounds, experiences, and practices, to enhance hoist proficiency and collective readiness when conducting life-saving search and rescue missions in Alaska’s vast and austere terrain. (Alaska Army National Guard photo by Alejandro Peña)
Alaska Air Guard Conducts Multiple Hoist Rescues of Stranded Rafters on Kichatna River
By Staff Sgt. Seth LaCount, | Aug. 29, 2025
JOINT BASE ELMENDORF-RICHARDSON, Alaska — Alaska Air National Guard members with the 176th Wing rescued three rafters Aug. 28 after their raft flipped over on the Kichatna River.The Alaska Rescue Coordination Center opened...

Chief Warrant Officer 5 Brian Searcy, the Command Chief Warrant Officer of the Army National Guard, addresses attendees of a warrant officer caucus session during the National Guard Association of the United States (NGAUS) conference in Milwaukee, August 24, 2025. The 147th NGAUS General Conference and Exhibition – which is held annually to connect delegates from all 54 states and territories to discuss the future of the National Guard – took place August 21-25 and featured various events and social gatherings throughout Milwaukee to showcase Wisconsin’s rich history and heritage.
Searcy Leaves Legacy of Advocacy for Warrant Officers in Army Guard
By Lt. Col. Carla Raisler, | Aug. 28, 2025
MILWAUKEE, Wis. — Chief Warrant Officer 5 Brian Searcy, the eighth command chief warrant officer of the Army National Guard, will retire later this year after more than three decades of service.Searcy marked the occasion this...