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The DoD is committed to providing military personnel from across the Services access to the TAP. The TAP prepares all eligible members of the Military Services for a transition to civilian life; enables eligible Service members to meet the CRS as required by this rule; and is the overarching program that provides transition assistance, information, training, and services to eligible transitioning Service members to prepare them to be career ready when they transition back to civilian life. Spouses of eligible Service members are entitled to the DOLEW, job placement counseling, DoD/VA-administered survivor information, financial planning assistance, transition plan assistance, VA-administered home loan services, housing assistance benefits information, and counseling on responsible borrowing practices. Dependents of eligible Service members are entitled to career change counseling and information on suicide prevention.

These revisions will: institutionalize the implementation of the VOW Act of 2011; require mandatory participation in the Department of Labor (DOL) Employment Workshop (EW); implement the Transition GPS (Goals, Plans, Success) curriculum; require development of an Individual Transition Plan (ITP); enhance tracking of attendance at TAP events; implement of mandatory Career Readiness Standards (CRS) for separating Service members; and, incorporate a CAPSTONE event to document transition readiness and reinforce Commanding Officer accountability and support for the needs of individual Service members. This rule improves the process of conducting transition services for eligible separating Service members across the Military Services and establishes the data collection foundation to build short-, medium-, and long-term program outcomes.

Statement of Need:

In August 2011, President Obama announced his comprehensive plan to ensure America’s Post 9/11 Veterans have the support they need and deserve when they leave the military, look for a job, and enter the civilian workforce. A key part of the President’s plan was his call for a career-ready military. Specifically, he directed DoD and Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) to work closely with other federal agencies and the President’s economic and domestic policy teams to lead a Veterans Employment Initiative Task Force to develop a new training and services delivery model to help strengthen the transition readiness of Service members from military to civilian life. Shortly thereafter, Congress passed and the President signed the VOW to Hire Heroes Act of 2011, Public Law 112-56, sections 201-265, 125 Stat. 715 (VOW Act), which included steps to improve the existing TAP for Service members. Among other things, the VOW Act made participation in several components of TAP mandatory for all Service members (except in certain limited circumstances).

            The task force delivered its initial recommendations to the President in December 2011 which required implementation of procedures to document Service member participation, and to demonstrate Military Service compliance with 10 U.S.C. chapter 58 requirements. The Veterans Opportunity to Work (VOW) Act of 2011 mandated transitioning Service member’s participation in receiving counseling and training on VA Benefits. VA developed VA Benefits I and II Briefings to meet this mandate. The VOW Act also mandated transitioning Service members to received counseling and informed of services regarding employment assistance. The Department of Labor revised its curriculum to meet this mandate with the Department of Labor Employment Workshop. The VOW requirements have been codified in 10 U.S.C. chapter 58 and attendance to all Transition GPS curricula is now documented.  

            The redesigned TAP was developed around four core recommendations:

Adopt standards of career readiness for transitioning Service members: Service members should leave the military having met clearly defined standards of career readiness.

Implement a revamped TAP curriculum: Service members should be provided with a set of value-added, individually tailored training programs and services to equip them with the set of tools they need to pursue their post-military goals successfully.

Implement a CAPSTONE: Service members should be afforded the opportunity, shortly before they depart the military, to review and verify that they have met the CRS and received the services they desire and to be steered to the resources and benefits available to them as Veterans.

Implement a Military Life Cycle (MLC) transition model: Transition preparation for Service members should occur over the entire span of their military careers not just in the last few months of their military service.

Implementation of these recommendations transforms a Service member’ experience during separating, retiring, demobilizing, or deactivating to make the most informed career decisions by equipping them with the tools they need to make a successful transition.

The rule discusses a redesigned program which implements, the transition-related provisions of the VOW Act and recommendations of the Task Force to offer a tailored curriculum providing Service members with useful and quality instruction with connections to the benefits and resources available to them as Veterans. At the heart of the redesign is the new set of CRS. Just as Service members must meet military mission readiness standards while on Active Duty, Service members will meet CRS before their transition to civilian life.

Spouses of eligible Service members are entitled to the DOLEW, job placement counseling, DoD/VA-administered survivor information, financial planning assistance, transition plan assistance, VA-administered home loan services, housing assistance benefits information, and counseling on responsible borrowing practices. Dependents of eligible service members are entitled to career change counseling and information on suicide prevention.

Summary of the Legal Basis:

This regulation is proposed under the authority of title 10, U.S.C., chapter 58. Title 10, U.S.C., section 1141 defines involuntary separation; section 1142 provides the time period the Secretary concerned shall provide for individual pre-separation counseling for each member of the armed forces whose discharge or release from active duty is anticipated as of a specific date; section 1143 requires the Secretary of Defense to provide to members of the armed forces a certification or verification of any job skills and experience acquired while on active duty, that may have application to employment in the civilian sector; section 1143a. requires the Secretary of Defense to encourage members and former members of the armed forces to enter into public and community service jobs; section 1144 requires the Secretary of Labor, in conjunction with the Secretaries of Defense, Homeland Security, and Veterans Affairs to establish and maintain a program to furnish counseling, assistance in identifying employment and training opportunities, help in obtaining such employment and training, and other related information and services to members of the armed forces and the spouses of such members who are transitioning; section 1145 prescribes transitional health benefits; section 1146 describes commissary and exchange benefits for members involuntarily separated from active duty; section 1147 prescribes guidance that may permit individuals who are involuntarily separated to continue, not more than 180 days after the date of separation, to reside (along with other members of the individual’s household) in military housing provided or leased by the DoD; section 1148 addresses relocation assistance for personnel overseas; section 1149 provides guidance regarding excess leave and permissive temporary duty; section 1150 prescribes guidance for affiliation with Guard and Reserve units; section 1151 prescribes guidance for retention of assistive technology and services provided before separation; section 1152 allows the Secretary of Defense to enter into an agreement with the Attorney General to establish or participate in a program to assist eligible members and former members to obtain employment with law enforcement agencies; section 1153 allows the Secretary of Defense to provide assistance to separated Service members to obtain employment with health care providers; and section 1154 allows the Secretary of Defense to provide assistance to eligible Service members and former members to obtain employment as teachers (Troops-to-Teachers Program).

Alternatives:

The DoD considered several alternatives:

In President Obama’s speech in August of 2011 at the Washington Navy Yard, he used the term "Reverse Boot Camp" to demonstrate his vision for a redesigned TAP to increase the preparedness of Service members to successfully transition from military service to civilian communities. The President’s use of language initiated an interagency discussion on an approach to mirror the Military Services’ basic or initial entry training programs. This approach would require the Military Services to devote approximately 9 to 13 weeks, depending on curriculum development, outcome measures, assessments and individual military readiness and cultural differences, to afford Service members the opportunity to use all aspects of a rigorous transition preparation program.

While no cost estimates were conducted, this approach was deemed both expensive and would jeopardize DoD’s ability to maintain mission readiness. Approximately 200,000 - 250,000 Service members leave DOD each year. To concentrate on transition preparation during the last 9 to 13 weeks of an individual’s military career would not be workable since mission readiness could not absorb the impact of the void. Additionally, there would be a an increased expense required to activate or mobilize Reserve Component or National Guard personnel for the 9 to 13 weeks prior to transition. Finally, logistical challenges could result from Service members dealing with TAP requirements while deployed. For example, units scheduled to mobilize would be delayed because a returning unit could occupy facilities (such as billeting, classrooms, and training areas) that the deploying units needed to train and prepare for mobilization.

A second alternative considered was establishment of regional residential transition centers staffed by personnel from all Military Services, the Departments of VA, Labor (DOL), and Homeland Security (U.S. Coast Guard), the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA), and the OPM. Transitioning Service members would be sent on temporary duty for a period of four to six weeks, 12 months prior to their separation or retirement date to receive transition services. Eligible Reserve Component Service members would be assigned to the centers as a continuation of their demobilization out-processing. The potential costs to build or modify existing facilities, or rent facilities that would meet regional residential transition center requirements, as well as costs for Service member travel to and from the regional centers, reduced the viability of this approach.

A third, less expensive option would have left the existing TAP program intact without increasing counselor and curriculum facilitation resources. This option would not have accountability systems and procedures to demonstrate compliance with the VOW Act that mandates pre-separation counseling, attendance at the DOL’s three day Employment Workshop (DOLEW), and attendance at two VA briefings. Due to increasing Veteran unemployment and homeless percentages at the time of the decision, and the rebalancing of the military force, this cost neutral approach would not have the outcome based capability intended to develop career ready skills in transitioning Service members. This option, which would not have met the requirements of the law, would cost the Military Services approximately $70M versus the fiscal year 2013 (FY13) $122M for the implementation of the re-designed TAP.

Anticipated Costs and Benefits:

The VOW Act mandated pre-separation counseling, VA Benefits Briefings I and II, and the DOLEW and these components were implemented in November 2012. On the same day the VOW Act requirements became mandatory, DoD published a policy to make CRS and Commanding Officer verification that Service members are meeting CRS, mandatory. Vow Act compliance and CRS must be met by all Service members after they have served 180 days in active duty status. Service members must attend Transition GPS (Goals, Plans, Success) curriculum modules that build career readiness if they cannot meet the CRS on their own. In cases where Service members receive a punitive or Under Other Than Honorable Conditions discharge, Commanding Officers have the discretion of determining participation in the other than mandatory Transition GPS curricula. By policy, all Service members who do not meet the CRS will receive a warm handover to DOL, VA, or other resources targeted at improving career readiness in the area where the standard was not met.

The entire Transition GPS curriculum is now available online through Joint Knowledge Online (JKO); however, Service members must attend pre-separation counseling, VA briefings, and the DOLEW in person. All other curriculum can be accessed through the JKO virtual platform. The virtual curriculum (VC) was launched at the beginning of FY14. DoD expected a cost savings in FY14 due to use of the VC but the cost avoidance cannot be calculated as VC utilization is appropriate on a Service member-by-Service member basis.

Further, resource requirements for DoD become more predictable when transition assistance is provided at pre-determined points throughout the MLC TAP model, mitigating the impacts of surge periods when large numbers of Service members separate, demobilize or deactivate.

The FY13 cost to DoD to implement the TAP redesign was $122M and in FY14 DoD costs were $85M. The difference is attributed to both implementation costs of the updated program in FY13, and to efficiencies discovered as implementation was completed throughout FY14. These costs represent only the portion of the interagency program that is paid by the DoD. The cost covers Defense civilian and contracted staff (FTEs) salaries and benefits at 206 world-wide locations. Civilian and contract labor account for approximately 88% of total program costs in both fiscal years. The remaining costs include equipment, computers (purchase, maintenance and operations), Information Technology (IT) and architecture, data collection and sharing, web site development, performance evaluation and assessments, curriculum development and modifications, materials (audio-visual, CDs, eNotebooks, handouts, interactive brick and mortar classroom sessions, virtual curriculum, etc.), facilitation training, research, studies, and surveys. Within DoD, the re-designed TAP capitalized upon existing resources, e.g., use of certified financial planners housed in the Military Services’ family centers to conduct financial planning or military education counselors used to conduct the Accessing Higher Education (AHE) track. Other efficiencies include reuse or upgrades to current facilities and classrooms used to deliver legacy TAP. Implementation costs in FY13 included equipping classrooms to allow for individual internet access and train-the-trainer workshops to deliver the DoD portions of the Transition GPS curriculum. Examples of efficiencies discovered in FY14 include providing train-the-trainer courses through webinars and savings associated with Service members using the VC.

The DoD provides military spouses the statutory requirements of TAP as prescribed in Title 10, United States Code. Other elements of TAP, prescribed by DoD policy, are available to spouses if resources and space permits. Military spouses can attend the brick and mortar Transition GPS curriculum at no cost on a nearby military installation. They can also take the entire Transition GPS curriculum online, virtually, at any time, from anywhere with a computer or laptop for free.

Many of our Veteran and Military Service Organizations, employers and local communities provide transition support services to local installations. Installation Commanders are strongly encouraged to permit access to Veteran Service Organizations (VSOs) and Military Service Organizations (MSOs) to provide transition assistance-related events and activities in the United States and abroad at no cost to the government. Two memos signed by Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel reinforce such access. The memos are effective within 60 days of the December 23 signing, and will remain in effect until the changes are codified within DoD.   Access to installations is for the purpose of assisting Service members with their post-military disability process and transition resources and services. The costs to VSOs and MSOs would be any costs associated with salaries for paid VSO and MSO personnel. These organizations will pay for any costs associated with travel to and from military installations, as well as any materials they provide to separating Service members and their spouses. Costs to employers and community organizations supporting transition-related events and activities would be similar to those for VSOs and MSOs.

The DoD is dependent upon other federal agencies to deliver the redesigned TAP to transitioning Service members. The VA, DOL, SBA, Department of Education (ED), and Office of Personnel Management (OPM) have proven to be invaluable partners in supporting the Transition GPS curriculum development and delivery, and in providing follow-on services required by a warm handover due to unmet CRS. These interagency partners strongly support TAP governance and performance measurement.

Although DoD cannot estimate the costs for its interagency partners, TAP provides the Service members with resources through the contributions of its interagency partners that should be identified as factors of total program cost. Transition assistance is a comprehensive interagency effort with contributions from every partner leveraged to provide support to the All-Volunteer Force as the Service members prepare to become Veterans. The interagency partners deliver the Transition GPS curriculum and one-on-one services across 206 military installations across the globe. DoD can only speak to TAP costs within the Defense fence line, but can discuss the value provided by interagency partners.

The DOL provides skilled facilitators that deliver the DOLEW, a mandatory element of the Transition GPS standardized curriculum. DOL’s American Jobs Centers (AJCs) provide integral employment support to transitioning Service members and transitioned Veterans. The AJCs are identified as resources for the Service members during TAP which may increase visits from the informed Service members. The AJCs also support warm handovers of Service members who have identified employment as a transition goal on their ITP but do not meet the CRS for employment. DOL also provides input to the TAP interagency working groups and governance boards, and is involved in the data collection, performance measurement, and standardization efforts, all of which represent costs to the organization.

The SBA provides the Transition GPS entrepreneurship track, Boots to Business, to educate transitioning Service members interested in starting their own business about the challenges small businesses face. Upon completing the Boots to Business track, the SBA allows Service members to access the SBA on-line entrepreneurship course, free of charge. The SBA then provides Service members the opportunity to be matched to a successful business person as a mentor. This is a tremendous commitment that must create additional costs for the SBA. The SBA offices continue to provide support to Veterans as they pursue business plan development or start up loans; provision of this support is in their charter, but the increased awareness provided through the Transition GPS curriculum is likely to increase the patronage and represent a cost to SBA. The SBA also provides input to the TAP interagency working groups and governance boards. The SBA is engaged with data collection and sharing efforts to determine program outcomes.

VA provides facilitators who deliver the mandatory VA Benefits Briefings I and II as part of the Transition GPS standardized curriculum required to meet VOW Act requirements. The VA facilitators also deliver the two-day track for Career Technical Training that provides instruction to Service members to discern the best choices of career technical training institutions, financial aid, best use of the Post 9/11 GI Bill, etc. Benefits counselors deliver one-on-one benefits counseling on installations, as space permits. As a primary resource for Veterans, VA ensures benefits counselors are able to accept warm handovers of transitioning Service members who do not meet CRS and require VA assistance post separation. The VA hosts the interagency single web portal for connectivity between employers and transitioning Service members, Veterans and military spousesthe Veterans Employment Center (VEC). VA provides input to the TAP interagency working groups and governance boards, and is involved in the data collection and sharing efforts to determine program outcomes, all of which represent costs to the organization.

ED serves a unique and highly valued role in the interagency partnership by ensuring the entire curriculum, both in classroom and virtual platform delivery, is based on adult learning principles. Their consultative role, tapped daily by the interagency partners, is critical to a quality TAP.   ED also provides input to the TAP interagency working groups and governance boards and keeps a keen eye toward meaningful TAP outcomes, all of which represent costs to the organization.

The OPM contributes federal employment information and resources to the DOLEW, and enables the connectivity between the VEC and USA Jobs web sites. The OPM also provides input to the TAP interagency working groups and governance boards and contributes to performance measures.

The costs to DoD’s interagency partners were not calculated; implementation of this rule was mandated by the Vow Act and costs for all parties are already incurred. The calculated costs to DoD and unmeasured costs to DoD’s interagency partners provide significant resources to Service members resulting in benefits to the Nation.

The benefits of the redesigned TAP to the Service members are increased career readiness to obtain employment, start their own business or enter career technical training or an institution of higher learning at the point of separation from military service. The legacy, end-of-career TAP is replaced by pre-determined opportunities across the MLC for many transition-related activities to be completed during the normal course of business.

Since a direct economic estimate of the value of TAP is difficult for DoD to demonstrate as it would require collection of information from military personnel after they become private citizens, the value of the TAP can be derived by demonstrating qualitatively how Service members value the program and then displaying some changes in economic variables that can be differentiated between Veterans who have access to TAP and non-Veterans who do not have access to the program.

-           According to one independent evaluation of the TAP, Service members who had participated in the TAP had, on average, found their first post-military job three weeks sooner than those who did not participate in the TAP.

-           An independent survey asked Soldiers who had used the TAP their opinions about the curriculum. The Soldiers reported positive opinions about the usefulness of the TAP.

90% of the Soldiers felt that it was a useful resource in searching for employment and 88% of them would recommend the TAP to a colleague.

According to a curriculum assessment completed at the end of each TAP module, transitioning Service members gave the TAP positive reviews on its usefulness for their job search:

-           92% of reported that they found the learning resources useful, including notes, handouts, and audio-visuals.

-           83 % reported that the modules enhanced their confidence in their own transition planning.

-           81% reported that they now know how to access the necessary resources to find answers to transition questions that may arise in the next several months.

-           79% said that the TAP was beneficial in helping them gain the information and skills they needed better to plan their transition.

-           79% said that they will use what they learned from the TAP in their own transition planning.

-           A comparison of unemployment insurance usage suggests that recently separated members of the military (2013 & 2014) were more likely to apply what they learned in the re-designed TAP and were more involved earlier in job training programs than unemployed claimants who did not have military experience (8.5% of UCX claimants versus 5.1% of Military service claimants).

-           According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the unemployment rate for Veterans of the current conflict declined by 1.8 percentage points from August 2013 to August 2014 coinciding with the time period when all Service members were required to take the re-designed TAP.

The TAP also helps mitigate the adjustment costs associated with labor market transition. Military members must prepare for the adjustments associated with losing military benefits (e.g. housing, health care, child care) to the benefits afforded in private sector or nonmilitary public sector jobs. The TAP addresses this very important aspect based on a regulatory mandate that they attend both the DOLEW and the VA’s Veterans Benefits Briefings, and complete a 12 month post-separation financial plan to meet CRS.

The early alignment of military skills with civilian workforce demands and deliberate planning for transition throughout a Service member’s career sets the stage for a well-timed flow of Service members to our Nation’s labor force. Employers state that transitioning Service members have critical job-related skills, competencies, and qualities including the ability to learn new skills, strong leadership qualities, and flexibility to work well in teams or independently, ability to set and achieve goals, recognition of problems and implementation of solutions, and ability to persevere in the face of obstacles. However, application of these skills and attributes must be translated into employer friendly language. These issues are addressed by the TAP. The rule supports providing private and public sector employers with a direct link to profiles and resumes of separating Service members through the Veterans Employment Center (VEC), where employers can recruit from this talent pipeline.

The rule benefits communities across the country. Civilian communities receive more educated, better trained and more prepared citizens when separating Service members return to communities as Veterans. Service members learn to align their military skills with civilian employment opportunities, which enables the pool of highly trained, adaptable, transitioning Service members a more timely integration into the civilian workforce and local economies.

Service members also learn through TAP about the rich suite of resources available to them from the interagency partners and have, for the asking, one-on-one appointments with interagency partner staff, who can provide assistance to Service members and their families both before and after the Service member leaves active duty. More specifically, the components of the mandatory CRS target deliberate planning for financial preparedness as well as employment, education, housing and transportation plans and, for those Service members with families, child care, schools, and spouse employment. The DoD and interagency partners incorporated the warm handover requirement for any transitioning Service member who does not meet the CRS. The warm handover is meant to serve as an immediate bridge from DoD to the federal partners’ staffs, which are committed to providing needed support, resources and services to Service members post separation in the communities to which the Service members are returning. The intention is to provide early intervention before Veterans encounter the challenges currently identified by some communities, e.g., financial struggles, unemployment, lack of social supports that can spiral down into homelessness, risk taking behaviors, etc. Families and communities benefit.

Risks:

If this rule is not put into effect, approximately 200,000 Service members per year will return to their local communities ill prepared to assimilate into the civilian workforce, effectively use the Post 9/11 GI Bill benefits and other VA benefits that they have earned, minimize risks to starting small businesses, and will be unaware of community resources to assist them with their reintegration. More specifically, transitioning Service members will be uninformed as to how to best use their Post-9/11 GI Bill benefit--how to apply to a degree completion institution, how to choose the best school for degree completion, or how to choose a technical training program that leads to obtaining a credential--with a negative return on their investment such as non-graduation, inability to transfer credits, or falling victim to predatory institutions, with an end result of wasting valuable taxpayer dollars. Service members, a most entrepreneurial population, would be poorly prepared to launch small businesses successfully, becoming part of the > 80% statistic of failed start-ups within the first year. Service members will be unprepared to capitalize upon health care benefits due to them, as well as health care mandated by and available through the Affordable Care Act. These avoidable information, education and training gaps could produce negative outcomes such as increased unemployment, financial uncertainty, business bankruptcy, family disruption, and even a possible increase in homelessness. These risks would be felt by local communities to which transitioning Service members return as communities deal with the long term economic and social fallout.