Planning your exit: a timeline that actually works

12 MONTHS OUT Decide, and put dates on paper

The single biggest transition advantage is time. A year out, three things matter:

• Lock your dates. Know your projected separation date and count backward from it. Every deadline below hangs off that date.
• Ask about SkillBridge early. The program lets you spend up to your last 180 days working with a civilian employer while still drawing military pay — but command approval takes time, and good programs fill up. If you wait until six months out to start the paperwork, you've already missed part of your window.
• Schedule TAP and treat it as a floor, not a ceiling. The Transition Assistance Program is mandatory and useful, but it's the minimum. The plan in this guide is what you build on top of it.

9 MONTHS OUT Translate what you've done

Civilian hiring managers don't read MOS codes. Start converting your record into their language now, while you still have easy access to evaluations, awards, and the people who can vouch for the details.

• Write the plain-English version of your last three jobs. Not billet titles — what you ran, how many people, what budget, what broke and how you fixed it. Unclassified terms only, always.
• Inventory your credentials. Clearance status and investigation dates, certifications and their expirations, licenses, and the training the military paid for that has a civilian equivalent.
• Stand up a LinkedIn profile — even a thin one. Recruiters search there first, and a profile that exists nine months early gathers connections you'll want later.

6 MONTHS OUT Close the gaps

By now you know roughly where you're headed. Six months is enough time to close one meaningful gap — pick it deliberately.

• One certification, not four. Look at postings for the job you actually want and note which credential shows up again and again. Knock that one out. Cert-collecting for its own sake burns time and GI Bill money.
• Confirm your education benefits. GI Bill, tuition assistance eligibility windows, and state veteran benefits — know what you have before you commit to anything that costs money.
• Start SkillBridge if you're doing it. This is the window.
• Talk to people doing the job. Two or three honest conversations with people a few years ahead of you will save you from applying to the wrong roles for three months.

3 MONTHS OUT Get in front of employers

• Start applying — but through people, not portals. Cold applications convert badly for everyone; referrals and introductions convert well. Every application should have a human attached to it where possible.
• File your VA disability claim under the Benefits Delivery at Discharge program if you're eligible — it can be filed 90 to 180 days before separation and processes much faster than waiting until after.
• Get your medical record copy, dental done, and paperwork clean. Boring, and much harder to fix from the outside.
• Nail down the money math. Terminal leave, unused leave sold back, final pay timing, and health-care coverage between separation and a start date. Know your runway in weeks, not vibes.

SEPARATION Land, then keep moving

A start date within two weeks of terminal leave is a great outcome, not a guaranteed one. If there's a gap, use it deliberately: finish the certification, do the interviews properly, take the real break you probably need. What matters is that the plan keeps moving — the first job is a step in the plan, not the end of it.