The Pentagon has temporarily halted the inclusion of new civilian employers into the SkillBridge career transition program due to the program’s overwhelming popularity. The program, which provides apprenticeship-style training for soon-to-be-separated service members with different companies, will undergo a “realignment.”
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Key Points:Â
- SkillBridge was created in 2011 and has seen more than 50,000 service members participate. Each year about 200,000 troops leave active duty.
- Military commanders can authorize service members in the last 180 days of their active-duty military service to participate in a SkillBridge internship. The program counts as official duty and occurs during normal working hours.
- The program, currently listing 3,312 authorized employers from major aerospace firms to local organizations, is expected to accept new employers again after Aug. 15 following a realignment.
- Post-realignment, the program will be jointly managed by the Assistant Secretary of Defense for Manpower and Reserve Affairs and the Defense Human Resources Agency. Previously, it was run by a single office.
- In addition to the Pentagon’s reassessment, the Navy revised aspects of SkillBridge in March, placing restrictions on who can participate in internships and when.
