1、 https:/crsreports.congress.gov Updated July 12, 2018Military Transition Assistance Program (TAP): An OverviewBackground The military Transition Assistance Program (TAP) was established by Congress in the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) for Fiscal Year 1991 (P.L. 101-510). The original pur
2、pose of the program was to help ease the transition to civilian life for military servicemembers who were involuntarily separated as part of the force structure drawdowns of the late 1980s. From 1991 to 2011, Congressional interest in the program remained high, particularly in regard to troops who s
3、erved in combat in Iraq and Afghanistan. In 2011, Congress passed the VOW (Veterans Opportunity to Work) to Hire Heroes Act (Title II of P.L. 112-56), which made a pre-separation counseling program mandatory for all servicemembers with at least 180 continuous days of active duty. Current law require
4、s servicemembers to begin participating in TAP as soon as possible during the 24-month period preceding an anticipated retirement date or 12-month period preceding the anticipated separation date. It also specifies that pre-separation counseling should commence no later than 90 days before the date