II 

112TH CONGRESS 

2D SESSION S. 3354 

To authorize the Transition Assistance Advisor program of the Department 

of Defense, and for other purposes. 

IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES 

JUNE 28, 2012 

Mr. CASEY introduced the following bill; which was read twice and referred 

to the Committee on Armed Services 

A BILL 

To authorize the Transition Assistance Advisor program of 

the Department of Defense, and for other purposes. 

1 Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa2 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 

3 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 

4 This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Transition Assistance 

5 Advisor Act of 2012’’. 

6 SEC. 2. TRANSITION ASSISTANCE ADVISOR PROGRAM. 

7 (a) PROGRAM AUTHORIZED.— 

8 (1) IN GENERAL.—Chapter 58 of title 10, 

9 United States Code, is amended by inserting after 

10 section 1144 the following new section: 


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1 ‘‘§ 1144A. Transition Assistance Advisors 

2 ‘‘(a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary of Defense shall 

3 establish as part of the Transition Assistance Program 

4 (TAP) a Transition Assistance Advisor (TAA) program to 

5 provide professionals in each State to serve as statewide 

6 points of contact to assist members of the armed forces 

7 in accessing benefits and health care furnished under laws 

8 administered by the Secretary of Defense and benefits and 

9 health care furnished under laws administered by the Sec10 retary of Veterans Affairs. 

11 ‘‘(b) NUMBER OF ADVISORS.—The Secretary of De12 fense shall ensure that the minimum number of Transition 

13 Assistance Advisors in each State is as follows: 

14 ‘‘(1) During the period beginning 180 days be15 fore the commencement of a contingency operation 

16 (or, if later, as soon before as is otherwise prac17 ticable) and ending 180 days after the conclusion of 

18 such contingency operation— 

19 ‘‘(A) in the case of a State with fewer than 

20 1,500 members of the Army National Guard of 

21 the United States and the Air National Guard 

22 of the United States residing in the State, not 

23 less than one Transition Assistance Advisor; 

24 and 

25 ‘‘(B) in the case of a State with 1,500 or 

26 more members of the Army National Guard of 


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1 the United States and the Air National Guard 

2 of the United States who reside in such State, 

3 not less than one Transition Assistance Advisor 

4 for each 1,500 members of the Army National 

5 Guard of the United States and the Air Na6 tional Guard of the United States who reside in 

7 such State. 

8 ‘‘(2) At any time not covered by paragraph 

9 (1)— 

10 ‘‘(A) in the case of a State with fewer than 

11 5,000 members of the Army National Guard of 

12 the United States and the Air National Guard 

13 of the United States residing in the State, not 

14 less than one Transition Assistance Advisor; 

15 and 

16 ‘‘(B) in the case of a State with 5,000 or 

17 more members of the Army National Guard of 

18 the United States and the Air National Guard 

19 of the United States who reside in such State, 

20 not less than one Transition Assistance Advisor 

21 for each 1,500 members of the Army National 

22 Guard of the United States and the Air Na23 tional Guard of the United States who reside in 

24 such State. 


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1 ‘‘(c) DUTIES.—The duties of a Transition Assistance 

2 Advisor includes the following: 

3 ‘‘(1) To assist with the creation and execution 

4 of individual transition plans for members of the 

5 National Guard described in subsection (d)(2) and 

6 their families for the reintegration of such members 

7 into civilian life. 

8 ‘‘(2) To provide employment support services to 

9 members of the National Guard and their families, 

10 including assistance with discovering employment 

11 opportunities and identifying and obtaining assist12 ance from programs within and outside of the Fed13 eral Government. 

14 ‘‘(3) Provide information on relocation, health 

15 care, mental health care, and financial support serv16 ices available to members of the National Guard or 

17 their families from the Department of Defense, the 

18 Department of Veterans Affairs, and other Federal, 

19 State, and local agencies. 

20 ‘‘(4) Provide information on educational sup21 port services available to members of the National 

22 Guard, including Post–9/11 Educational Assistance 

23 under chapter 33 of title 38. 

24 ‘‘(d) TRANSITION PLANS.—(1) Each individual plan 

25 created under subsection (c)(1) for a member of the NaVerDate Mar 15 2010 01:39 Jul 04, 2012 Jkt 019200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\S3354.IS S3354

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1 tional Guard described in paragraph (2) shall include the 

2 following: 

3 ‘‘(A) A plan for the transition of the member 

4 to life in the civilian world, including with respect to 

5 employment, education, and health care. 

6 ‘‘(B) A description of the transition services 

7 that the member and the member’s family will need 

8 to achieve their transition objectives, including infor9 mation on any forms that such member will need to 

10 fill out to be eligible for such services. 

11 ‘‘(C) A point of contact for each agency or enti12 ty that can provide the transition services described 

13 in subparagraph (B). 

14 ‘‘(2) A member of the National Guard described in 

15 this paragraph is any member of the National Guard who 

16 has served on active duty in the armed forces for a period 

17 of more than 180 days. 

18 ‘‘(e) STATE DEFINED.—In this section, the term 

19 ‘State’ means each of the several States of the United 

20 States, the District of Columbia, and any territory of the 

21 United States. 

22 ‘‘(f) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 

23 is authorized to be appropriated to the Secretary to carry 

24 out this section— 

25 ‘‘(1) $10,000,000 for fiscal year 2013; and 


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1 ‘‘(2) such sums as may be necessary for each 

2 fiscal year thereafter.’’. 

3 (2) CLERICAL AMENDMENT.—The table of sec4 tions at the beginning of chapter 58 of such title is 

5 amended by inserting after the item relating to sec6 tion 1144 the following new item: 

‘‘1144A. Transition Assistance Advisors.’’. 

7 (b) REPORT.—Not later than 90 days after the date 

8 of the enactment of this Act, the Secretary of Defense 

9 shall submit to Congress a report setting forth a descrip10 tion of the efforts of the Secretary to implement the re11 quirements of section 1144A of title 10, United States 

12 Code, as added by subsection (a)(1). 

Æ 


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