Disabled Transition Assistance Program (DTAP)

The Disabled Transition Assistance Program (DTAP) is an integral component of the Transition Assistance Program that involves intervention on behalf of Soldiers who may be released because of a disability or who believe they have a disability qualifying them for the Department of Veterans Affairs' (VA) Vocational Rehabilitation and Employment (VR&E) Program. The goal of DTAP is to encourage and assist potentially eligible service members in making an informed decision about VA's Vocational Rehabilitation and Employment Program.

Top

Reunion

The return home from combat can often leave servicemembers feeling out of place with the most important people in their lives - their families.

"In deployment, Soldiers grow accustomed to a new lifestyle and a new 'family' - those buddies that bond together to defend each other," said Maj. Ken Williams, 14th Military Police Brigade chaplain. "This lifestyle change is prolonged and becomes familiar, i.e., the new normal."

The families also change while the Soldier is deployed.

"The family is a system," Williams said. "When one family member is absent, the whole system changes. All members of the family adapt to a new 'normal' way of life."

When the servicemember returns, the family may feel uncomfortable with each other, and the servicemember may withdraw from the family.