DD Form 2648: Filing the Pre-Separation Counseling Checklist on milConnect

To fill out DD Form 2648, log in to the milConnect portal, open the DoD Transition Assistance Program (DoDTAP) area, and initialize the pre-separation counseling eForm. You then complete your personal information and consent fields yourself, work through the counseling checklist with a TAP counselor who fills the sections reserved for them, apply your electronic signature, and route the form to your commander for the final signature before your separation date. The signed eForm is stored in your permanent personnel record.

Opening the eForm on milConnect

Sign in to milConnect, choose Correspondence/Documentation, and select DoD Transition Assistance Program (DoDTAP). On the My Dashboard tab, click Initialize Pre-Separation Counseling. That action creates your eForm record, which then appears under the Transition Documents tab where you can open, edit, review, and print it.¹²

The form is broken into numbered sections. Click a section name to expand it. Required fields appear in red, and the system will not let you sign until every red field has an entry.¹

What to Have Ready Before You Start

Gathering a few things in advance keeps the process moving once you sit down with your counselor:

Your Social Security number, grade, and branch of service.³
Your anticipated separation or retirement date, in YYYYMMDD format.
A permanent civilian email address and phone number for items 26 and 27, so the Department of Labor and other agencies can reach you after you leave.⁴
A clear post-transition goal: employment, higher education, vocational training, or entrepreneurship. Your goal determines the track you follow and which standards apply.
A rough post-military budget and a sense of your current debts for the financial planning items.
Records on any pending disability claims or ongoing medical treatment, useful for the healthcare continuity items.

Section by Section

The eForm has four main sections. You handle most of them, but certain fields are locked and can only be edited by your TAP counselor.¹

Section 1: Personal Information

Complete items 1 through 31 with your identifying details, duty station, separation date, and contact information. Some fields open additional questions based on your responses. Pay close attention to items 26 and 27, which capture your civilian email and phone. In the same area, answer items 1 through 4a under Service Member Consent for Information Sharing and/or Post-Separation Contact; those authorize agencies to follow up with you after discharge.⁴

Section 2: Initial Counseling

This section is populated by the TAP counselor during your face-to-face initial counseling. You complete a self-assessment and build an Individual Transition Plan that names your post-transition goals. The counselor uses your self-assessment to assign a tier (1, 2, or 3) that reflects how much transition support you need, with Tier 3 members carrying the most requirements, including a two-day track and its associated Career Readiness Standards.⁵ Several fields here are disabled for you and can only be edited by the counselor.

Section 3: Pre-Separation Counseling and Needs Assessment

Section 3 is the substantive checklist. It covers the topics required by federal law: educational benefits, VA compensation and vocational rehabilitation, civilian occupations matching your military specialty, post-separation healthcare options, financial planning, and mental health resources.⁶ Whatever items you mark as relevant feed directly into your Individual Transition Plan.³

Section 4: Signatures and Remarks

Once all required fields are filled, Section 4 asks a few yes-or-no questions and offers a text box for remarks. When nothing is outstanding, the Click Here to Sign button becomes active and you apply your electronic signature.¹

Routing to Your Commander

After you sign, the eForm routes to your commander or a designated representative. The commander verifies that the required steps actually happened, not just that boxes are checked.⁷

In the verification portion, the commander selects Yes or No to confirm that you completed pre-separation counseling, met the VOW Act requirements, finished your Individual Transition Plan, met the Career Readiness Standards, and received a warm handover if one was required. If your counseling was completed with 89 or fewer days remaining, the commander must add comments explaining why the timeliness standard was missed.⁷

The commander then adds any remarks, saves, and clicks Click here to sign and complete. If required fields are still empty, they show in red and must be filled and saved before the signature will process. Once signed, the form reaches complete status and uploads to your permanent personnel record. TAP participation must be documented no later than the discharge date on your DD-214.⁸

After all signatures are in, download or print a copy from the DoDTAP page for your personal files. You will likely need it during final out-processing.²

Timing That Affects the Form

When you can start and when you must be done both shape how you approach the eForm. For a standard separation, pre-separation counseling must begin no later than 365 days before your separation date. For a planned retirement, it can begin as early as 24 months out and should begin as soon as possible within that window.⁶

If separation is unexpected and fewer than 365 days remain, counseling starts as soon as possible in whatever time is left. The same applies to Reserve component members demobilizing on short notice. Completing counseling with 89 or fewer days to go triggers the commander comment requirement noted above.⁶

A separate milestone, the Capstone review, must be completed no later than 90 days before your separation or retirement date. At Capstone, a transition counselor verifies you have met the Career Readiness Standards for your tier and track. If any are unmet, or if you lack adequate housing or transportation, or you are being released under less-than-honorable conditions, you receive a warm handover to an agency that can help close the gap.⁹

Who Uses DD Form 2648 and Who Does Not

DD Form 2648 is the active-duty version of the pre-separation checklist. National Guard and Reserve members returning from Title 10 orders of 180 or more continuous days use a separate form, DD Form 2648-1. Army National Guard soldiers in a Title 32 Active Guard/Reserve status are not required to meet TAP requirements at all.¹⁰

The eligibility threshold is 180 continuous days of active duty. If you are being discharged or released before reaching that mark, pre-separation counseling does not apply, with one exception: members separating for disability are covered no matter how long they served.⁶ Reserve component members may decline pre-separation counseling for successive periods of active duty, but the decision must be documented on the DD Form 2648-1.¹¹

1
milConnect. Filling in Your eForm
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milConnect. DoD Transition Assistance Program Overview
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Department of Defense. DD Form 2648 – Pre-Separation Checklist
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Hawaii USMC-MCCS. Initiate PreSeparation Counseling and Digitally Sign eForm (e2648)
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Military Leaders Guide to TAP. Military Leaders Guide to TAP
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Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 10 USC 1142 – Preseparation Counseling; Transmittal of Certain Records to Department of Veterans Affairs
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Fort Riley. Commander Instructions for Transition Document DD Form 2648 eForm
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Department of Defense. DoD Instruction 1332.35 – Transition Assistance Program (TAP)
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MyNavyHR. TAP / eForm / NRMS Training
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MyArmyBenefits. Army Transition Assistance Program (TAP)
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Federal Register. Transition Assistance Program (TAP) for Military Personnel