SkillBridge: how to find a host and get approved

SkillBridge can put you in a civilian job-training program for the last months of your service. Your branch and rank may cap it well short of 180 days, and a commander has to sign off.

If you're getting out in the next year, SkillBridge lets you spend part of your last 180 days in uniform training, apprenticing or interning with a civilian employer. You're still on active duty while you do it, and the employer isn't allowed to pay you. The Army also runs its own programs, called the Career Skills Program, or CSP.

The 180 days is the outer limit. Every branch except the Coast Guard caps the days by rank, from 60 to 180, and only Navy E-5s and below get the full 180. A commander must approve, and since it isn't an entitlement, the answer can be no, fewer days, or an early end. The rules kept changing in 2026: new Air Force and Space Force instructions in March, Army requests moved into IPPS-A in May, a Defense Industrial Base exception to the rank caps in June, and new Coast Guard rules in July.

What SkillBridge allows

10 U.S.C. 1143 requires 180 days on active duty and expected separation within 180 days of starting. DoDI 1322.29 requires those active-duty days to be continuous.

The 180-day window differs from your branch's rank-based program cap and the shorter period your commander may approve. Army members count back from separation or retirement, not terminal leave.

Guard and Reserve eligibility needs checking. Army members need 180 continuous days of qualifying active service; Title 32 AGR service is excluded unless they have qualifying Title 10 activation orders. Air Force AGR can include Title 10 or Title 32 section 502(f), with orders covering the program and separation or retirement from the component. For medical separations, ask your transition or education office about the Army's or Air Force's exceptions and documentation.

Approvers can end SkillBridge for mission reasons. Army and Coast Guard separation dates cannot move to accommodate it; Marines cannot extend service to finish. Army, Air Force and Space Force require an expected general (under honorable conditions) or better discharge.

Newer documents say Department of War (DoW), and the website moved from skillbridge.osd.mil to skillbridge.mil.

How many days you get, and who signs

Each branch sets its own caps.

In the Army and Air Force, warrant officers WO1 to CW3 get up to 90 days and CW4 and CW5 up to 60. Marine warrant officers get up to 90.

Defense Industrial Base programs. DoD's June 3, 2026 notice says Defense Industrial Base (DIB) SkillBridge requests in members' last 180 days will be approved as exceptions to rank restrictions. DIB companies build and support military systems, including aerospace, cybersecurity and shipbuilding. Opportunities bearing the DIB mission icon on skillbridge.mil qualify for up to 180 days.

Who approves. DoD sets the minimum: "the first field grade commander authorized to impose non-judicial punishment under Article 15" in your chain, and it can't be delegated lower. Branches set higher levels for senior ranks.

Army. For E-1 to E-5, AR 600-81 names the "First field grade Commander with UCMJ," and MILPER 26-175 (May 18, 2026) says "First O5 field grade Commander." Ask your S1 which your unit applies. E-6, E-7, WO1 to CW3 and O-1 to O-3 go to the first O-6 commander with UCMJ authority. E-8s, E-9s, CW4s, CW5s and O-4s and up go to the first general officer with general court-martial convening authority. No level may be delegated.

Navy. Your commanding officer has final approval. The MyNavy Education portal names your CO, or an officer in charge with nonjudicial punishment authority. O-5s and above also need a formal command endorsement and OPNAV N13's endorsement, and can't leave a gapped billet. For Customs and Border Protection (CBP), Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and DIB programs, the Navy has suspended its day limits: Sailors may start up to 180 days before separation regardless of paygrade.

Marine Corps. MARADMIN 280/24, an interim message, and MCB Hawaii's 2025 package name a lieutenant colonel or above. The exception is Category III (E-8, E-9, CWO4, CWO5, O-5 and up), which needs a general officer and can't leave a billet gapped. The newer order, NAVMC 1700.2B (April 2025), names the first commanding officer or officer in charge with UCMJ authority. It lets that be delegated to field grade COs or OICs with NJP authority. Ask your installation SkillBridge office which level your command uses. Marines in joint commands also need an O-6 endorsement from their operational chain.

Air Force, Space Force and Coast Guard. The second table below gives the first two by rank. Our sources don't confirm who signs in the Coast Guard, so ask your command.

DoD's one-page rank chart on the SkillBridge site disagrees with the branch documents at a few ranks, including Navy, Marine and Space Force O-4s. Follow your branch's own instruction over the chart, news coverage or other summaries.

When to apply, and what has to come first

The sources checked give branch-specific application windows, not typical processing times.

TAP is the real gate. DoD requires individualized initial counseling no later than one year before you leave, with some exceptions. GAO found that late TAP starters may run out of time to apply. Every branch with a stated rule wants initial counseling and pre-separation counseling done first. Beyond that, go by your branch's line in the table.

In the Army, all requests now run through the TAP Virtual Center. After initial counseling and the pre-separation brief, call the Virtual Center at 1-800-325-4715, ext. 2, attend its CSP and SkillBridge brief, and have the CSP counselor sign IMCOM Form 45 (April 2026). Then open an IPPS-A personnel action request under "Admin Records Corrections," then "Other," giving "CSP request" and your installation as the reason. Your S1 checks eligibility and your ETS window, and the approver decides in IPPS-A.

Signed hard-copy command memos are no longer required, and the older two-page form is only for Soldiers without IPPS-A access. An individual internship you set up yourself, rather than an established program, needs a legal review before your commander decides.

Air Force Reserve and Air National Guard members use different approval chains from the Regular Air Force row. AFI 36-2671, Table 2 assigns Reserve authority by organization, including AFRC/CD, ARPC/CC and HAF/RE-D; Guard approval runs through the state adjutant general or an authorized delegate, or ANGRC/CC for its members. Ask your servicing education office which row applies to you.

The Air Force sets an order too. Get selected by a host, tell your supervisor and approval authority, and finish AFVEC virtual training and DoD ethics training. Then submit in AFVEC with your orders, provider agreement, training plan and dates. Marines need an ethics course within 12 months of the start date. NAVMC 1700.2B names Developing Your Business Ethics (LLISELF301) on MarineNet, or an equivalent; your installation SkillBridge office can say which it accepts.

Apart from the two TAP deadlines, these are the earliest dates the rules allow, not a schedule. Your rank's cap still limits how long you go.

Finding a host, and what DoD requires of one

Start with the official list on skillbridge.mil. It shows organizations with a current agreement, a memorandum of understanding (MOU), with DoD. The Air Force and Space Force require a host whose approved MOU covers your training dates.

A listing isn't an endorsement: DoD's 2026 host agreement says it "does not constitute DoW endorsement" and bars hosts from implying official sanction.

The agreement's terms are the best test of a weak program. Under the 2026 MOU, a host:

• has been in business at least three years, unless it's a government agency, and isn't owned or controlled by a foreign government
• had its training plan approved before the listing went public
• doesn't charge you for training, materials, equipment, uniforms, certifications or licenses
• doesn't offer online programs that are only self-paced: online training must include live, person-led or in-person sessions, with self-paced material under half of it
• has at least as many suitable, open full-time positions as it has SkillBridge participants
• gives you no pay and no gifts for your work in the program
• if it places people with other employers, makes sure each has its own SkillBridge MOU

The agreement's employment threshold is a qualifying offer immediately after service for at least 75% of successful completers, with an 85% goal. Federal, state and municipal agencies are exempt from the 75% threshold.

DoD's own instruction makes participation "conditioned on the high probability of post-service employment with any employer," not only the host. An intern "is not necessarily entitled to a job" afterward. Ask each host how many recent participants got offers, and compare with 75%. GAO found in 2024 that some services' job-offer data was missing or inconsistently tracked.

Army Career Skills Programs have their own bar. Each must commit to an 85% graduation rate, refer every graduate for a job interview, and see 90% of those interviewed offered civilian jobs. Pay should be at or above the local median for the job on the Labor Department's CareerOneStop Salary Finder, and a program can't cut your starting salary to recover training costs.

The Air Force and Space Force rule out some programs entirely. Training must fill a skill gap you have. It can't expose you to serious danger or put you in a position of perceived authority over civilians, such as a front-line police officer or firefighter. Nor can it be with a past employer, your own business or a family member's. The Marine Corps also bars internships with family members and relatives. Our sources show no such exclusions for the Army, Navy or Coast Guard.

DoD can end a host's agreement without notice for ethics violations, not following its training plan, or validated participant grievances. Air Force members report a provider to their supervisor and commander first, and can escalate to the AFPC SkillBridge Workflow.

Hiring Our Heroes and other fellowships

The U.S. Chamber of Commerce Foundation's Hiring Our Heroes Corporate Fellowship interviews and matches applicants with hosts. It is a DoD SkillBridge program.

The Corporate Fellowship follows a 12-week syllabus: five days a week with the host company, plus a two-hour Friday session. It's free. You must be within 180 days of leaving the service and on active duty or transition leave, and you still need command approval under your branch's rules. Fellows who show progress and fit get the "opportunity to interview for an open position," in the program's words.

Cohorts listed October 1, 2026:

• 2027 Cohort 1: apply by October 8, 2026, for January 11 to April 1, 2027
• 2027 Cohort 2: apply by February 11, 2027, for May 3 to July 22, 2027

Each cohort runs 81 calendar days, with applications closing 81 to 95 days before it starts. That exceeds the 60-day cap for Army E-8+, CW4+ and O-4+, and Air Force E-8s, E-9s, O-5s and senior warrant officers.

Hiring Our Heroes says its program dates are "flexible to branch- and rank-specific SkillBridge policies," and it reviews late applications for an off-cycle program, so ask how it would fit your cap. The Air Force and Space Force also grant exceptions to policy past the caps for programs tied to priorities in their SkillBridge guidance. The Air Force limits these to 180 days.

Pay, costs and terminal leave

The host can't pay you. DoD bars "wages, training stipends, or any other form of financial compensation" from the provider for SkillBridge time, and the 2026 agreement bars gifts as well. The Air Force allows routine employee benefits, such as a gym or parking, only if they're listed in the host's MOU application.

Air Force and Space Force. You receive regular military pay and benefits, and SkillBridge time is permissive TDY (PTDY).

Army. Interns receive full military pay and benefits. Within 50 miles of your duty station you attend in a present-for-duty status, and beyond 50 miles on administrative absence. Either way there's no paid TDY, no per diem, no government-paid travel and no government vehicle.

Marine Corps. You're carried in SkillBridge permissive TAD (S-PTAD), and NAVMC 1700.2B stops special duty assignment pay the day before S-PTAD begins. Camp Pendleton's 2026 package adds that BAH you already draw continues at your duty-station rate, and CONUS COLA stops if SkillBridge runs to your EAS. Ask your IPAC whether your installation applies the same allowance rules.

Navy. MyNavy HR says Sailors on SkillBridge continue to receive their military compensation and benefits. One gap: a 2023 message says Sailors who give up overseas housing or its allowance to come back to the U.S. for SkillBridge get no housing allowance. Our sources don't show it fixed. If your command ends your participation, getting back is at your own expense.

Coast Guard. You're placed on permissive TDY, requested in Direct Access.

Training should cost you nothing under the 2026 agreement. Food, lodging and travel can fall on you, unless the host offers the same help to all similar trainees, military or not. Army Career Skills Programs may carry "minimal" costs, such as work boots or an industry physical, and tuition assistance won't cover CSP classes. Using your GI Bill on a VA-approved program is your choice.

Terminal leave fits differently in each branch. Navy SkillBridge must start before any terminal leave or PTDY, all inside your rank's window, so terminal leave shortens the program. Marines count leave and PTAD inside their cap, PTAD first. Air Force and Space Force members fit SkillBridge and all leave into the last 180 days, terminal leave last. Air Force Reserve members have a tighter combined limit: SkillBridge PTDY plus terminal leave must also fit their rank-based cap. In the Coast Guard, leave taken during the program cuts it day for day.

Some branches let you keep going after that. Air Force and Space Force members may keep attending during terminal leave and past their DOS, though no longer as official participants. For Marines, MARADMIN 280/24 and NAVMC 1700.2B both let you finish a longer program after your separation date, on your own means, but internships must end by your separation date.

If your command says no

SkillBridge isn't an entitlement in any DoD service, and GAO found it's at your commanding officer's discretion. The exception is a Defense Industrial Base request in your last 180 days, which DoD says "will be approved by the Military Departments" at any rank. Navy commanding officers "are always fully authorized to deny or curtail" requests over mission readiness, and the Air Force doesn't authorize backfills for people on SkillBridge.

Air Force and Space Force commanders may approve fewer days, part-time or hybrid training, or more terminal leave instead.

Some Sailors can't start yet at all. Anyone with service owed for Navy-funded education, including tuition assistance, has to finish that obligation first. So do officers short of their commissioning obligation or still under a retention bonus.

If your first program ends for reasons outside your control, Army, Air Force and Space Force commanders may approve a second one. Otherwise, the Air Force limits participation to one program during your transition, the Space Force to one during your career, and the Army to one CSP or SkillBridge program. A host can also release you if you aren't participating satisfactorily.

If the answer stays no, two paths remain. One is the shorter or part-time program above, though Marines whose program needs fewer than 20 hours a week return to their parent command. The other is a job you start on terminal leave. The Army lets an employer hire and pay you then, and the Air Force and Space Force let you accept job offers and hiring actions.

One example, start to finish

Example (fictional) Luis Ferreira is a 26-year-old Army sergeant (E-5) leaving at the end of his enlistment. His separation date is September 30, 2027. He wants the Hiring Our Heroes Corporate Fellowship, 2027 Cohort 2, with a host company within 50 miles of his post.

He finished initial counseling and his pre-separation brief in August 2026, then attended the Virtual Center's CSP and SkillBridge brief. As the Army requires, he meets all of TAP's Career Readiness Standards before he submits his request. In January he applies to Hiring Our Heroes and is matched with a host. With the acceptance letter and training plan, his CSP counselor signs IMCOM Form 45, and he opens his IPPS-A request. His S1 checks his ETS window, and his first field grade commander with UCMJ authority, an O-5 who fits both Army descriptions, approves it in IPPS-A.

The fellowship starts 150 days before his separation date, inside the 180-day window, and its 81 days fit his 120-day cap. With the host within 50 miles, he attends present for duty, with no per diem. The host can't pay him during the fellowship, but if it offers him a job, he can be hired and paid once he's on terminal leave.

This is general information about the rules, not legal advice or a decision on your eligibility. Your approval authority decides. For free help, start with your installation's TAP office and your command or installation SkillBridge coordinator: Marine installations have SkillBridge coordinators, and Navy applications go through a program coordinator. Soldiers can reach the Army TAP Virtual Center at 1-800-325-4715, ext. 2.