You want to hire transitioning service members. You have heard that every base runs a Transition Assistance Program. So you call the main number, get bounced around, and never reach the right person. That is where most employers stall out.

The TAP office is one of the best places to meet service members before they separate. But it is not a job board you log into. It is a government program run on a military base. To use it as a channel, you have to understand how it works and who actually controls access.

This guide covers the connection mechanics. What TAP is, how a base transition office runs, who you call, how to get on base for a hiring event, and the etiquette that keeps you welcome. If you want the broader timeline and pipeline strategy, read how to hire transitioning service members before separation first. If you want the full map of transition programs as sourcing channels, see our veteran sourcing channel guide. This piece is just the TAP office.

What Is the Transition Assistance Program?

The Transition Assistance Program (TAP) prepares service members for civilian life. It is required for most people leaving active duty. If a service member served 180 days or more, they go through TAP before they separate.

TAP is not a small pilot. It is congressionally mandated and runs across every branch. The Department of Defense oversees it through the Military-Civilian Transition Office. The Department of Labor and the Department of Veterans Affairs both teach parts of it. The legal backbone is the VOW to Hire Heroes Act of 2011 and DoD Instruction 1332.35.

Here is why that matters to you. Every separating service member passes through this program. They go through it on a set timeline before their separation date. That makes the TAP office a predictable, recurring source of candidates. They are not random. They are people who have to plan their exit, and the system points them at it.

What Does the TAP Curriculum Actually Cover?

You need to know what service members learn in TAP so you can speak their language. The curriculum is reviewed every year by an interagency partnership. It covers employment, education, finance, transition stress, and starting a business.

The Department of Labor teaches the job-search piece. It is called the DOL Employment Workshop. It is a two-day class. Service members work on resumes, networking, the job search itself, interview skills, and salary negotiation.

The VA teaches a one-day course on benefits. That covers the GI Bill, disability claims, and health care. You can read more about the full program on the Military OneSource site.

So when you meet a service member coming out of TAP, they have a resume and some idea of the civilian market. But the program teaches general skills, not your specific roles. It cannot tell them what your company needs. That gap is exactly where a connected employer wins. You show up and answer the question TAP cannot.

How Does a Base Transition Office Work?

Every installation has a transition office. The name changes by branch. The Army calls it Soldier for Life. Other branches use Transition Assistance or Military and Family Readiness. The function is the same. It runs TAP and supports people heading out.

Inside that office, a few roles matter to you.

The TAP office does not place candidates with you directly. It cannot pick favorites or steer service members to one company. What it can do is host events, share employer resources, and point members at legitimate help. That is the relationship you are building.

How Do Employers Connect With a Base TAP Office?

Start with the transition office at the specific base, not a national hotline. Each installation runs its own program. The person who can help you is the TAP manager or site lead at that location.

The Department of Labor itself says employers interested in hosting live, in-person workshops on an installation should contact the base TAP site lead contractor. That is the door. Find the base near your hiring location, look up its transition or Soldier for Life office, and ask for the TAP site lead.

If you cannot reach a base office, go through a partner. The DOL works with the U.S. Chamber of Commerce Hiring Our Heroes program. Hiring Our Heroes runs hiring fairs and employer events near and on installations. Their Corporate Fellowship Program employer guide explains how to host a fellow as a structured 12-week tryout. That is a clean side door into the same candidate pool.

You can also build pipeline that does not need base access at all. The DOL Employment Workshop teaches members to network and search online. Many will be applying through normal channels too. To catch them there, read our guide on where to post jobs to reach veteran candidates.

How Do You Get On Base for a Hiring Event?

Base access is the part employers underestimate. A military installation is federal property with controlled entry. You do not just drive on. The installation decides who comes through the gate.

Access for an event runs through the transition office and installation security or events staff. They sponsor your visit. Expect a background check, a visitor pass, and a vehicle inspection. Plan for lead time. Some bases need weeks of notice for an outside group.

Because base access takes work, do not waste the event. When you do get on post, treat it like a real recruiting day. Bring people who can answer job questions, not just hand out pens. The point is to build relationships with members who separate in the next few months.

If the on-base route stalls, off-base events near the gate often pull the same crowd with less red tape. Military job fairs held at convention centers or hotels near a base are open channels. We cover the playbook for those in how employers source veterans at military job fairs.

What Is the Etiquette for Recruiting Through TAP?

The transition office answers to its commander, not to you. If you act like a vendor working a lead list, you get shown the door. If you act like a partner who helps their people, you get invited back. The whole channel runs on that trust.

A few rules keep you in good standing.

Respect the rules around active-duty members too. A service member who lands a SkillBridge fellowship is still on active-duty pay. They got into a program. They did not take a job yet. Treat early conversations as relationship-building, not a closed deal. Let people make their move on their own timeline.

One more thing. The staff often remember the company that helped a member who did not even take their job. Word travels in a transition office. Being genuinely useful is the cheapest marketing you will ever do on a base.

What Should You Bring to a TAP Hiring Event?

Once you are in, the event itself decides whether you walk away with candidates. Service members coming out of the program have a resume and broad job-search skills. What they do not have is a clear picture of what your company does day to day. Fill that gap and you stand out.

Bring people who can answer real questions about the work. A recruiter who only knows the job title cannot hold a conversation with a sharp NCO. Send a hiring manager or a veteran already on your team. Members trust someone who has done the job and can explain the path in.

Come with open roles, not a brochure. Be specific about what you are filling, the pay range, and the location. A service member separating in four months is making a real decision. Vague "we are always hiring" talk wastes their time and yours.

Translate your roles into plain terms. Many members do not know which of your jobs fit their experience. If you hire for logistics, say it plainly and point a supply NCO at it. If you need cleared talent, say so, because a held clearance is worth real money to you. Be ready to map their background to your openings on the spot.

Remember that the applicant tracking system on your side still racks and stacks resumes after the event. A great conversation does not help if their resume sinks to the bottom of your pile. Tell strong candidates how to apply so they surface to the top. Better yet, flag them for your team directly.

How Do You Turn One TAP Office Into a Real Pipeline?

A single hiring event is a transaction. A relationship with a transition office is a channel. The difference is whether you keep showing up.

Pick one or two bases near your hiring footprint and go deep. Get on a first-name basis with the TAP site lead. Ask to be on their employer resource list. Volunteer for an employer panel. Send a short note after each event with how many people you talked to and any hires.

Another high-leverage move is becoming a SkillBridge host company. SkillBridge lets a service member do an internship with you during their last months of service while the military still pays them. Transition offices love pointing members at real SkillBridge hosts. It puts you on their list of trusted employers.

The TAP channel takes patience. Base access, event scheduling, and trust do not happen in a week. But the payoff is a steady connection to candidates before they hit the open market, where everyone else is fighting over the same resumes.

Where BMR Fits In Your Veteran Hiring

The TAP office is one channel. It puts you in front of people near a base on the base's schedule. But not every separating service member is near an installation you can reach, and not every one of them walks into your event.

That is where a national pool helps. BMR adds over 1,000 new veteran and transitioning-member profiles every month. More than 60,000 resumes have been built on the platform. These are people who are actively preparing for the civilian job market, the same people moving through TAP across every base.

So work the TAP offices near your hiring sites for the local, in-person connection. Use BMR to reach the rest, the candidates outside your gate radius. Together that is full coverage of the transitioning workforce instead of a single base.

If you want access to that pool of transitioning service members and veterans, reach out through our hire page. We will connect you with veteran talent that fits your roles.