Getting out · Start here

Two clocks. Then a cliff.

BDD 180–90 days before ETS. TAMP is 180 days if DEERS shows it. VGLI’s 240-day clock did not take the Nov–Jan premium holiday.

This month’s recutThis month’s recut (21 Sep 2026): VGLI premium holiday is Nov. 1, 2026 through Jan. 31, 2027 if the policy is already current. Coverage continues. The 240-day no-health-review clock does not pause. Official: VA.gov VGLI.

/start/getting-out

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Studio packet · film this week

Getting-out sitrep: TAMP 180 days and the BDD clock

Copy the YouTube description, shoot the sitrep, upload in Studio. The tools below already work.

Getting out

Getting-out sitrep → TAMP countdown + BDD clock

Two clocks: 180 days of TAMP, and the BDD window 180–90 days before ETS. Film this week. Tools already work.

TAMP countdown BDD / ETS clock TRICARE TAMP VA.gov BDD

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Getting out · TAMP

180 days. No premium. Then a cliff.

Transitional Assistance Management Program is transitional TRICARE after qualifying active duty. Your service puts it in DEERS. I do not. Confirm on milConnect before you skip a civilian plan.

Last day of qualifying active duty

Does milConnect / DEERS already show TAMP for you?

Guard/Reserve: often more than 30 consecutive AD days for a contingency or preplanned mission.
Involuntary honorable separation, stop-loss, some voluntary-separation cases, sole survivor.
Leaving active duty into Selected Reserve the next day can qualify. Your personnel shop documents it.
Zero premium. Prime or Select depending on where you live. Dental is not this program.
After TAMP: TRS if you are drilling, TRR if you are gray area, VA health if you are a veteran.

TRICARE.mil TAMP TAMP walkthrough

Getting out

BDD / ETS countdown

Benefits Delivery at Discharge: file 180 to 90 days before you take off the uniform. After 90 days you still file — just not BDD. Pair this with the TAMP clock.

Separation / ETS date

VA.gov BDD TAMP countdown

Life insurance

SGLI now. VGLI on a clock.

Servicemembers’ Group Life Insurance lives in milConnect while you serve. After separation it runs 120 days free. VGLI replaces it. Apply within 240 days with no health questions, or out to 1 year + 120 days with proof of health. Confirm on VA.gov.

Recut sitrep: if VGLI is already current, VA is skipping premiums 1 Nov 2026 through 31 Jan 2027. Automatic. No opt-in. That holiday does not pause this conversion clock.

Separation date (DD-214)

While in: SGLI, FSGLI, TSGLI elections in milConnect. Check the beneficiary.
Do not cancel SGLI before you separate if you want VGLI at the same face amount (up to $500,000).
This is not homeowners insurance and not a VA disability filing.

VA.gov VGLI SGLI walkthrough

Next clicks

TRICARE TAMP VA.gov BDD VA.gov VGLI Get your records

Wrong lane?

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Don’t dump into the tools hub. Each card is its own URL.

Reserve

Federal Selected Reserve. Start here.

/start/reserve

USAR, USNR, Marine Corps Reserve, Air Force Reserve, Coast Guard Reserve, Space Force. Not the Guard card. DEERS, then TRS. Dental is a different portal. Weekend drill and AT are not Prime.

This month’s recut (22 Sep 2026): TRS is still a purchase any month you qualify — Open Season is Prime/Select, not TRS. Recut from TRICARE.mil: you do not qualify for TRS on active-duty orders for more than 30 days, on TAMP, in the IRR, or if you are FEHB-eligible (that lockout is written through 1 Jan 2030). Drill, AT, and orders of 30 days or less stay on the inactive door — TRS + line-of-duty care. Deductibles on the official cost matrix still read $66 / $132 (E-1–E-4) and $198 / $397 (E-5+). Confirm premiums on TRICARE.mil. National Guard is its own start card.

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National Guard

Army or Air National Guard. Start here.

/start/guard

Title 32, Title 10, or State Active Duty. Traditional drill buys TRS. Dual-status technicians sit on FEHB. State school money is a different pot from Chapter 1606.

This month’s recut (22 Sep 2026): Army National Guard and Air National Guard are still Selected Reserve for TRS — recut from TRICARE.mil. FEHB-eligible dual-status technicians stay locked out of TRS through 1 Jan 2030. Recut from VA.gov home-loan eligibility: Guard has a Title 32 path — 90 days of service including 30 consecutive days under 32 USC 316, 502, 503, 504, or 505 — plus the six-year and Title 10 90-day paths. State Active Duty is usually state pay, not TRICARE and not a VA day. Confirm the statute on the orders before you touch BWE.

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Active duty

Title 10. Not TRS. Not AGR.

/start/active-duty

Regular-component active duty enrolls Prime, Prime Remote, or overseas Prime based on the duty station. Zero premium. The Reserve card sells TRS. The AGR card is Guard/Reserve full-time.

This month’s recut (21 Sep 2026): Open Season does not apply to the active-duty sponsor — recut from TRICARE.mil Open Season. Prime, Prime Remote, or overseas Prime still starts with DEERS, the Plan Finder, then BWE. Official phones on the ADSM page still include DEERS 800-538-9552.

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AGR

Full-time Guard and Reserve. Not TRS.

/start/agr

Active Guard Reserve and FTNGD sit on active-duty TRICARE. Confirm DEERS, run the Plan Finder, enroll Prime or Prime Remote. The Reserve card will send you to the wrong cash register.

This month’s recut (21 Sep 2026): AGR is still the active-duty TRICARE door, not TRS. Open Season is not your enrollment window. DEERS has to read active duty before BWE will sell the right product.

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Family

Spouse and kids. Start here.

/start/family

DEERS first. Then FSGLI, CHAMPVA, or DEA. The sponsor’s login is not the family’s enrollment.

This month’s recut (21 Sep 2026): newborn/adoption add-on on TRS is still 90 days stateside / 120 overseas — recut from TRICARE.mil TRS. Coverage is not automatic. DEERS first.

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Veterans

Already out. Start here.

/start/veterans

This month’s recut (21 Sep 2026): 2026 VA compensation table still effective Dec. 1, 2025. 10–20% ratings do not add dependents. A 30% veteran with a spouse, no kids, is listed at $617.47. Type VA.gov yourself.

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Gray area retiree

20-year letter. No paycheck yet.

/start/gray-area

Retired Reserve under 60. TRR is $645.90 / $1,548.30 in 2026 — not TRS money. Reduced age is earned in 90-day blocks. TFL is still 65.

This month’s recut (21 Sep 2026): Open Season is Prime/Select, not TRR. TRR is its own purchase. TFL is still Medicare Part A + B. A July 1, 2026 Part D drug note on TRICARE.mil is not a TFL enrollment change.

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Retiree

Paycheck started. Not gray area.

/start/retiree

90 days to reenroll Prime or Select. SBP is an election. TFL still waits for Medicare Part B. TRR is the no-paycheck product — you left that card.

This month’s recut (22 Sep 2026): TRICARE.mil Retiring still gives 90 days after the retirement date to enroll Prime or Select, with a retro window up to 12 months. Miss both and you are space-available only. TFL is still Medicare Part A + B. SBP is DD 2656, not a TRICARE click.

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1SGs

Print it. Brief it. Point at .gov.

/start/nco

Free drill decks and one-pagers. Education, not filing. Nobody in the room should collect an SSN.

This month’s recut (21 Sep 2026): brief Open Season vs TRS. Nov. 9–Dec. 8, 2026 is Prime/Select, effective Jan. 1, 2027. It does not apply to ADSM sponsors. TRS is a purchase in milConnect any month they qualify.

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