The DoD SkillBridge program lets active-duty service members spend up to their final 180 days of military service training with a civilian employer, keeping full military pay and benefits while the employer provides an internship, apprenticeship, or on-the-job training at no salary cost to them. It is one of the most practical transition tools available before separation or retirement, and thousands of approved employers across dozens of industries participate.
Who Qualifies
Federal law sets two baselines. You must have completed at least 180 continuous days on active duty, and you must be expected to separate or retire within 180 days of your program start date.1Office of the Law Revision Counsel. 10 USC 1143 – Employment Assistance That 180-day window is the outer limit. Your command can approve less.
DoDI 1322.29 requires authorization from the first field-grade commander in your chain of command who holds Article 15 authority.2Executive Services Directorate. DoDI 1322.29 – Job Training, Employment Skills Training, Apprenticeships, and Internships for Eligible Service Members This is where most applications either succeed or stall. Your commander weighs whether the unit can function without you. If you sit in a critical billet, have a deployment coming, or face any disciplinary action, expect pushback. The instruction does not explicitly demand an honorable characterization, but as a practical matter, a service member facing adverse action rarely gets command approval.
Each branch adds its own guidance on top of the DoD-wide instruction. The Air Force uses AFI 36-2671 for additional administrative steps. The Navy publishes NAVADMIN guidance that in some cases caps participation at 120 days unless a waiver is granted. Check your branch’s policy early so you know what your command will require beyond the DoD baseline.
Guard and Reserve
SkillBridge is built for active-duty members. National Guard and Reserve members who are not on active-duty orders do not qualify for the DoD-funded program. Some approved SkillBridge employers separately run training pathways for Guard, Reserve, veterans, and military spouses on different terms without DoD backing.3Military OneSource. About the DoD SkillBridge Program
Pay, Benefits, and What You Still Pay For
You keep your full military compensation the entire time: base pay, Basic Allowance for Housing, and Basic Allowance for Subsistence at your current rank.4Department of Defense. DoD SkillBridge Program Brochure TRICARE coverage stays active for you and your dependents. The host employer is prohibited from paying you any wages, stipends, or other compensation.2Executive Services Directorate. DoDI 1322.29 – Job Training, Employment Skills Training, Apprenticeships, and Internships for Eligible Service Members
One trap: your BAH is tied to your current duty station, not the internship location. Train in San Francisco while stationed at Fort Liberty and you draw Fort Liberty BAH. That gap can be significant. Budget for it before accepting a position in a high-cost city.
Government travel funds are not authorized for SkillBridge. You go on permissive TDY orders, which means the travel is on your own dime. Household goods shipment usually isn’t available until you receive actual separation orders. Salary and healthcare are covered. Relocation and living costs at the internship site are yours.
Your GI Bill Stays Intact
SkillBridge does not consume any Post-9/11 GI Bill entitlement. Because you remain on active duty, the VA does not pay a Monthly Housing Allowance or tuition during participation.5Department of Veterans Affairs. VA Benefits and Services Participant Guide Your full entitlement remains available for education after separation. That’s a real advantage over spending GI Bill months on a training program SkillBridge could deliver for free.
What Kinds of Training Count
SkillBridge is broader than office internships. The program recognizes four opportunity types, each with its own accreditation expectations:
- Apprenticeships and pre-apprenticeships combining on-the-job training with classroom instruction, typically registered with the Department of Labor or approved by the VA as an education and job training program.
- Employment skills training and on-the-job training where you learn by performing the job under supervision. These programs must be accredited by a recognized body such as the Council on Occupational Education or approved by the National Association of State Approving Agencies.
- Internships offering entry-level work experience with federal, state, or local government agencies as well as private employers.
- Job shadowing, typically a single day of observation. There is no cap on how many you can pursue.
One format rule matters: a program cannot be entirely virtual and self-paced. Any online component must include live, instructor-led sessions, and asynchronous coursework cannot exceed 50% of total program length.6Department of the Interior. 2025 DoD SkillBridge Memorandum of Understanding The DoD added the rule so the program couldn’t be reduced to watching recorded videos from home.
Finding an Approved Employer
The DoD keeps a searchable directory of approved industry partners at skillbridge.mil/locations, filterable by career field, location, and opportunity type.7Department of Defense SkillBridge. Locate DoD SkillBridge Industry Providers The directory includes thousands of organizations, from healthcare and IT to skilled trades and logistics, with providers cycling in and out as new MOUs are signed.
You have to pick an employer that already holds an active Memorandum of Understanding with the DoD. Your command will not approve an application tied to an unapproved company. If a company you want to work with isn’t in the system, point them to skillbridge.mil/industrypartners to begin an MOU application, but know that approval takes time and there’s no guarantee they’ll be ready before your separation window opens.
Start early. Competitive positions fill months in advance, and you need time to build a training plan with the employer before command review begins.
How to Apply
Once you have an approved employer, the process breaks into three phases.
Build the Training Plan
You and the employer write a training plan spelling out specific skills you’ll learn, daily responsibilities, and program duration. This document is the backbone of the application. Commands reject vague plans that read like generic job descriptions. The plan must show genuine professional development tied to a civilian career path, not clerical filler. Your local Transition Assistance Program office can help with formatting and submission.8Department of Defense SkillBridge Program. DoD SkillBridge Program
Get Command Approval
The application routes from your immediate supervisor up to the first field-grade commander with Article 15 authority.2Executive Services Directorate. DoDI 1322.29 – Job Training, Employment Skills Training, Apprenticeships, and Internships for Eligible Service Members At each level, reviewers ask whether your absence hurts unit readiness. An informal green light from your immediate commander before you assemble the full package saves time. Include exact separation dates, proposed start and end dates, and verified contact information for your civilian supervisor so the command can stay in touch.
Process the Orders
After signatures, the package goes to your installation’s personnel or transition office for administrative processing. That office issues the permissive TDY orders authorizing you to be away from your unit. Expect roughly 30 to 45 days from submission to final authorization, though some commands move faster and some slower depending on staffing.
While at the internship site, you remain under your unit’s administrative control and must check in as directed. Skipping the agreed schedule or going incommunicado can end the internship and pull you back to your unit.
Stacking SkillBridge with Terminal Leave
A common question: can you tack terminal leave onto SkillBridge to extend the total window beyond 180 days? Terminal leave comes after SkillBridge, not before or during. You cannot use leave to start a program earlier than 180 days before your separation date. The usual sequence is active duty, then SkillBridge on permissive TDY, then terminal leave, then separation.
Total time away from the unit can exceed 180 days when you include accrued leave, but the SkillBridge portion stays inside that cap. Watch your leave balance. Burn through it before the program starts and you have nothing left to cover the gap between the end of SkillBridge and your separation date. Each branch handles sequencing a little differently, so confirm the specifics with your Transition Assistance Program office.
Ethics Rules Still Apply
Federal ethics restrictions follow you into SkillBridge. You are still on active duty, so conflict-of-interest statutes are in full effect. Officers and senior civilians need particular care: if you held a procurement or contracting role, interning at a company you oversaw in an official capacity can create serious legal exposure.9DoD Standards of Conduct Office. Post-Government Employment Ethics Rules for DoD Personnel
Enlisted members get a carve-out: the criminal statutes restricting representation of non-federal entities before government agencies (18 U.S.C. 203 and 205) do not apply to enlisted personnel or Title 32 National Guard members. For officers and financial disclosure filers, prior approval for outside employment with a prohibited source may be required. When in doubt, talk to your installation’s ethics counselor before accepting a position. This is a criminal-liability issue, not an administrative one.
If the Internship Falls Apart
There is no formal DoD protocol requiring the employer to notify your chain of command if they end the internship early. The employer can terminate the arrangement, and the burden is on you to report to your unit immediately. Fail to do so and you risk being treated as absent without leave. Your command will typically recall you to serve out your remaining time at the unit.