SkillBridge 2026: 180 Days Remaining, Not a Hire

DoW SkillBridge is for service members with 180 days or fewer remaining before discharge. The official page calls it real-world training and work experience with industry providers. It is not a fire certificate. It is not a police license. It is not a hire. Search the locations map for a host. Do not assume a department or an academy will take you.

This page is the program. The Texas paper trail after the contract lives on military to Texas fire and military to firefighter in Texas. Preference points after a passing civil-service score live on veterans' preference in public-safety hiring. Start from the military pathway if you are still mapping the whole exit.

Last verified: 2026-08-23.

What the official page actually says

The SkillBridge homepage, retrieved 2026-08-21 and HEAD 200 on 2026-08-23 at skillbridge.mil:

This page does not print a full-pay line. The homepage extract used here does not state pay or benefits. This page does not print command-approval mechanics. It does not name Texas fire academies as SkillBridge hosts. Search the map.

Q4 program-growth figures on the homepage are not used here.

How to start this week

1. Confirm you have 180 days or fewer remaining.
2. Open SkillBridge for military members (HEAD 200 this unit).
3. Search Find a SkillBridge Opportunity (HEAD 200 this unit) for a public-safety host near where you will live.
4. If the host is a fire or police academy, read that city's notice. The program does not replace the city's physical, the written, or the academy.

If you are not inside 180 days, SkillBridge is not open yet. Use TAP. Keep the medical card moving. The military to firefighter transition guide covers GI Bill and TAP without reprinting this table.

Public safety is a search, not a promise

Some fire departments, police academies, and EMS employers show up as SkillBridge providers. Some do not. The only way to know is the locations map. A growing-number claim about Texas academies is not on the official homepage and does not ship here.

A SkillBridge seat is still not a hire. You still sit the city's test. You still need the certificate the city named on the notice. For Texas fire that certificate is TCFP, not your MOS: military to firefighter in Texas.

If you are already a Texas fire candidate

Stay on the Texas pages for Houston's 15 college hours or two years of active military, Denton Step A, Dallas Year 0-1, and TCFP's military-applicant list. This page does not reprint those figures. It exists so the SkillBridge query has its own URL instead of splitting the Texas how-to.