Your 18-Month Military Separation Checklist

• Complete or begin Individualized Initial Counseling and Pre-Separation Counseling no later than 365 days before separation, with the details recorded on DD Form 2648.
• File a Benefits Delivery at Discharge claim between 180 and 90 days before your actual last day of active service and remain available for exams for 45 days after filing.
• Complete TAP Capstone, the separation health assessment, and the dental examination no later than 90 days before separation.
• Leave sellback is limited to 60 career days and pays base pay only, while ordinary leave accrues at 2.5 days per month.
• Report household-goods loss or damage through the applicable process within 180 days after delivery.

Put these five deadlines on your calendar first

Count backward from your actual last day of active service. Do not use your terminal-leave start, SkillBridge start, permissive TDY, or final day in the unit.

Your service and installation will add local deadlines. Get the local clearing checklist early, but keep the federal 365-, 180-, and 90-day marks in control of your plan.

18 to 15 months: choose a civilian target and start TAP

Contact your installation Transition Assistance Program office now. The 365-day mark is the deadline, not the date for your first phone call. Individualized Initial Counseling and Pre-Separation Counseling may occur earlier, and they must begin or occur no later than 365 days before a planned separation.

During Individualized Initial Counseling, you complete a self-assessment, identify your post-service objective, begin an Individual Transition Plan, and receive an assigned pathway or tier. Pre-Separation Counseling follows. Your spouse or caregiver may attend and should attend if relocation, education, health insurance, or household income decisions affect both of you.

Choose a primary route:

• Civilian employment
• College or another education program
• Vocational training or credentialing
• Entrepreneurship
• Continued service in a Reserve component

Obtain your Joint Services Transcript or Community College of the Air Force transcript and DD Form 2586, Verification of Military Experience and Training. DD Form 2586 lists military occupations, training, dates, course lengths, and possible civilian equivalents. Use it as resume material. It does not prove that you meet a state licensing requirement.

Build a gap analysis for two or three realistic civilian occupations. List the degree, license, certification, clearance, portfolio, or experience each employer expects. A military job title alone is not a career plan.

Use the MOS Matcher to compare occupational paths if you are unsure how your military background translates. Confirm civilian requirements with employers, licensing agencies, and training providers.

15 to 12 months: complete TAP entry requirements and price civilian life

Before the 365-day line, confirm that DD Form 2648 has been initiated. Check the separation date, reason for separation, post-transition objective, pathway, personal email, and personal telephone number. DD Form 2648 records your counseling, curriculum, Career Readiness Standards, and Capstone status.

Register for the required TAP curriculum and at least one elected two-day track. Available tracks address employment, education, vocational credentialing, and entrepreneurship. You may attend more than one if scheduling permits.

Build your transition budget with civilian net income, not military gross pay. Include:

• State and local taxes at your expected destination
• Health insurance premiums, deductibles, and out-of-pocket costs
• Housing, deposits, utilities, and relocation expenses
• Commuting, professional clothing, certifications, and child care
• Debt payments and an emergency reserve
• The loss of tax-advantaged military allowances

Compare at least two geographic locations. The Military Pay and PCS Workspace can help you identify what your current military compensation includes before you compare it with a civilian offer.

Meet with a personal financial counselor. Review your leave balance, possible separation pay, debt, Thrift Savings Plan decisions, and the cash required if travel or moving reimbursements arrive late.

Create one transition folder in authorized personal storage. Add orders, evaluations, awards, deployment documents, transcripts, licenses, certifications, tax records, and medical documentation. Do not move classified, controlled, or government-only information.

12 to 9 months: prepare SkillBridge, resumes, and VA evidence

SkillBridge participation can occur only during your final 180 days of service. Research programs earlier. Employer acceptance does not equal military approval, participation requires commander approval, and 180 days is a ceiling rather than an entitlement.

Use this sequence:

1. Find an approved program aligned with your civilian target.
2. Confirm that every participation date falls within your final 180 days.
3. Obtain your service and installation application requirements.
4. Build time for command review and obtain written approval.
5. Coordinate SkillBridge with TAP, medical care, VA exams, household goods, accountability, and final out.

The DoD SkillBridge program overview explains the program structure, but your commander and service procedures control participation.

Count 180 days backward from your actual separation date, never from terminal leave. Do not leave the area for SkillBridge if that makes you unavailable for required VA examinations or final-out appointments.

Build a master resume from DD Form 2586, evaluations, awards, transcripts, and credential records. Translate rank, acronyms, equipment, and unit terminology into civilian duties and measured results. Create a targeted version for each occupation instead of sending the same document everywhere.

Use the Military Transition Resume Center to build targeted versions, then run each through the free military resume score before submitting it.

Identify a mentor, create or update your professional profile, attend career fairs, join relevant professional associations, and request informational interviews. Record each application in the Military Transition Application Tracker so you know which resume version each employer received and when follow-up is due.

Create a VA evidence inventory. For every condition, record:

• Condition or injury
• Approximate onset date
• Unit and duty location
• Treatment location
• Current symptoms
• Relevant service treatment record, diagnostic result, private record, or witness

Schedule a medical appointment while you are serving if a condition has never been evaluated. A post-service memory of an undocumented injury is weaker than a contemporaneous treatment record.

9 to 6 months: lock the employment plan and calculate leave

Submit your SkillBridge request early enough for command and service review. Prepare interview examples covering leadership, conflict, failure, technical decisions, and your reason for leaving military service. The Military Transition Interview Practice tool can help you rehearse without relying on acronyms or unit context.

Apply when employer timelines match your availability, and state your actual start date. SkillBridge, terminal leave, and separation are different statuses. You remain subject to military obligations through your last day.

Choose terminal leave, leave sellback, or a combination. Ordinary leave accrues at 2.5 days per month, or 30 days per year. Terminal leave is ordinary chargeable leave used immediately before separation and requires command approval.

Leave sellback has a 60-day career maximum, including prior sellbacks. Sold leave is paid at base pay only; allowances and special pays are excluded. Terminal leave may preserve continued pay and allowances while giving you time away from normal duties, but approval is not automatic.

Check your Leave and Earnings Statement for previous sellbacks and Special Leave Accrual. Certain older Special Leave Accrual balances have a September 30, 2026 use deadline. Confirm current treatment with finance if that date applies to your balance.

Put these dates on one map:

• Actual last day of active service
• Proposed terminal-leave start
• SkillBridge start and end
• Final duty or final-out date
• VA examination availability
• Household-goods pack and pickup dates

Do not build the plan around an unsigned leave request.

6 to 3 months: file the VA claim and finalize terminal leave

The VA Benefits Delivery at Discharge window runs from 180 through 90 days before separation. File as close to day 180 as practical if your records and condition list are ready. The VA pre-discharge claim rules require a known separation date and availability for VA examinations for 45 days after filing.

A BDD submission includes your disability claim and Separation Health Assessment Part A Self-Assessment. Keep a complete personal copy of your service treatment records even when VA expects to obtain them through the online filing process.

Add every claimed condition by the 90-day point if you want it considered with the original BDD claim. A condition added with fewer than 90 days remaining may be deferred until after discharge. BDD aims for a decision within 30 days after separation, but that is a goal, not a guarantee.

Protect your examination availability. Update VA immediately if your address, telephone number, or location changes. SkillBridge, relocation, or terminal leave does not excuse a missed exam.

The Separation Health Assessment has two parts:

1. Part A: You complete the medical-history questionnaire.
2. Part B: A clinician reviews Part A and your records, examines you, and documents findings.

VA normally conducts the assessment for BDD participants. DoD handles it for members outside BDD or IDES and those with fewer than 90 days remaining.

During the four-to-three-month period, finalize your terminal-leave request under local procedures and schedule TAP Capstone. Capstone must occur no later than 90 days before separation. Your commander or designee verifies your Career Readiness Standards and Individual Transition Plan. If you are not ready, TAP should arrange a warm handover for additional assistance.

Your final separation health assessment and dental examination are also due no later than 90 days before separation.

90 days: control final out, records, and household goods

The BDD window closes at day 90. If you missed it, file a standard pre-discharge disability claim instead of waiting until after separation. Processing may continue after you leave active service.

Confirm Capstone completion and review DD Form 2648. Review the draft or worksheet data for your DD Form 214, Certificate of Release or Discharge from Active Duty. Check your name, service dates, character and type of separation, occupational specialty, awards, deployments, foreign service, education, and training against source records. Correction and finalization procedures vary by service.

Download personal copies before CAC or network access disappears:

• Service treatment and dental records
• Imaging, laboratory, and diagnostic reports
• Personnel record, evaluations, and awards
• Orders and deployment documentation
• JST or CCAF transcript
• DD Forms 2586 and 2648
• Leave and Earnings Statements and tax records
• Licenses, certifications, and permitted training records
• Family and legal documents

Contact the Transportation Office and establish or verify Defense Personal Property System access. Your separation orders and the Transportation Office control your final-move entitlement because published timelines can differ by separation category.

Before household-goods pickup, photograph property and document operating condition. Obtain appraisals for high-value items. Correct vague inventory descriptions and inaccurate condition codes before signing. Hand-carry orders, identification, passports, medication, keys, jewelry, money, medical records, and separation paperwork.

After delivery, report loss or damage through the applicable process within 180 days of delivery, as stated in the Personal Property Quick Reference Guide.

60 to 31 days: verify approvals and preserve access

Confirm that terminal leave is approved, household-goods dates are booked, destination contact details are correct, and VA examinations are complete or scheduled. Assumptions are now expensive.

Recheck your DD Form 214 worksheet and submit corrections before issuance where your service permits. Transfer authorized personal records from government systems to offline personal storage. Never transfer classified, controlled, medical records belonging to other people, or government-only data.

Schedule installation clearing and final-out appointments using the checklist issued by your unit and installation. The sequence and required forms vary. Identify medications, referrals, and follow-up care you will need after your military health-care status changes.

Replace military contact information everywhere. VA, TAP, personnel, finance, and movers need a personal email address, personal telephone number, and forwarding address that will work after your CAC is disabled.

Keep enough cash or available credit for delayed reimbursements and final-pay adjustments. A travel or moving payment may arrive after the bill is due.

The last 30 days: finish what cannot wait

Preventable losses happen during the final month. Use a written checklist and verify completion instead of accepting “it should be in the system.”

1. Confirm the separation health assessment, dental examination, and missing medical documentation are complete.
2. Attend every VA examination. If you missed BDD, submit a standard pre-discharge claim now.
3. Verify DD Form 214 data and determine exactly how the signed copy will be delivered.
4. Make offline backups of personnel, medical, training, tax, and transition records.
5. Reconcile approved terminal leave with your LES and identify leave scheduled for sellback.
6. Verify household-goods pickup, inventory, destination contacts, and hand-carried documents.
7. Complete unit and installation clearing, return government property, close required accounts, and retain receipts.
8. Update VA, TAP, DPS, personnel, and finance systems with personal contact information.
9. Confirm housing, insurance, school, child-care, medication, and emergency plans for your family.

Do not pack your orders, passport, medication, records, or DD Form 214 paperwork. Do not sign an inaccurate mover inventory. Do not leave the area before VA exams are complete. Do not assume a submitted terminal-leave request has been approved.

Your last day and the first action afterward

Obtain your final DD Form 214 or confirm its delivery method before you lose access. Store multiple copies in separate secure locations. If it is later lost, request military service records with Standard Form 180.

Complete final clearance, return remaining government property, preserve travel and household-goods paperwork, and confirm which military accounts will close. Exact last-day procedures depend on your service and installation.

After separation, monitor your VA claim and answer evidence or examination requests. A disability claim received within one year after separation may receive an effective date as early as the day after separation; later claims generally receive an effective date based on claim receipt or when entitlement arose.

Before leaving the installation, open your transition folder. Verify that it contains your DD Form 214 delivery instructions, personal medical records, approved leave documentation, moving inventory, receipts, and working personal contact information.

Questions people actually ask

When should I start TAP before military separation?

Contact your installation TAP office about 18 months before separation if possible. Individualized Initial Counseling and Pre-Separation Counseling may start early, but they must begin or occur no later than 365 days before a planned separation. Confirm that DD Form 2648 shows your correct separation date, civilian objective, required curriculum, personal email, and telephone number.

Do I count BDD eligibility from terminal leave or my separation date?

Count from your actual last day of active service. The Benefits Delivery at Discharge window runs from 180 through 90 days before that date, not from your terminal-leave, SkillBridge, permissive TDY, or final-out date. You must also remain available for VA examinations for 45 days after filing.

Can I use all 180 days for SkillBridge?

No. SkillBridge may occur during your final 180 days of service, but 180 days is the maximum window rather than a guaranteed participation period. You need commander approval and must follow service and installation procedures. Your schedule also has to accommodate TAP, VA examinations, medical requirements, household goods, accountability, and final out.

What records should I download before losing CAC access?

Save your service treatment and dental records, personnel record, evaluations, awards, orders, deployment documents, JST or CCAF transcript, DD Form 2586, DD Form 2648, Leave and Earnings Statements, tax records, licenses, and certifications. Store only records you are authorized to keep. Do not transfer classified, controlled, or government-only material.

What happens if I miss the 90-day BDD deadline?

You lose BDD processing for a new filing, but you can still submit a standard pre-discharge disability claim. It may be processed after separation. Do not wait solely because BDD is unavailable. Continue collecting evidence, attend scheduled examinations, and keep VA updated with a personal email, telephone number, and current address.

How many leave days can I sell when I separate?

The career leave sellback maximum is 60 days, including days sold during earlier reenlistments or separations. Sold leave is paid at base pay only and excludes allowances and special pays. Terminal leave may preserve normal pay and allowances while you remain on active duty, but it requires command approval and must fit around SkillBridge and final out.