The Army Transition Assistance Program (TAP) is the Army's Transition Program responsible for providing Soldiers with the counseling, employment and education workshops, and seminars required to achieve the law and policy Career Readiness Standards (CRS) mandated compliance. TAP has undergone a re-engineering in order to "prepare" and "connect" Soldiers to ensure the greatest opportunities for successful personal and career achievement upon transition from active duty.
All Soldiers must begin the TAP process no later than 365 days prior to the date of their anticipated transition from active duty. Reserve component Soldiers with more than 180 days of continuous service but less than 365 days of mobilization must complete the self-assessment and individualized initial counseling during pre-mobilization, or as soon as possible thereafter.
All Service members planning to transition must register online and complete a self-assessment before contacting their local TAP Center or Virtual Center. Click here to access the TAP Portal.
- Regular Army: Active Duty
- Regular Army: Retired
- Army National Guard: Active Duty Under Title 10 USC or Title 32 USC (Full-Time National Guard Duty)
- Army National Guard: State Active Duty
- Army National Guard: Drilling
- Army National Guard: Retired
- Army Reserve: Active Duty
- Army Reserve: Drilling
- Army Reserve: Retired
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.