The United Services Military Apprenticeship Program (USMAP) helps active duty and full-time support service members obtain nationally recognized apprenticeships to facilitate the transition into civilian jobs.
In sharing similar tasks and knowledge, many civilian trades align with military ratings or military operational specialty (MOS). USMAP enables service members to complete apprenticeships in eligible trades through formal classroom instruction and on-the-job training.
Formal Classroom Instruction
Each year of apprenticeship (2,000 hours) requires 144 hours of related classroom training. In the Navy and Coast Guard, completing "A" school or Navy Enlisted Classification (NEC) training usually fulfills this requirement. Military occupational (MOC) training also meets this need.
For service members who have not completed military schools or training, formal civilian training through vocational schools, college classes, trade schools and correspondence courses may be used to complete these requirements. To ensure the training is acceptable, pre-approval by the USMAP office is recommended.
On-the-Job Training
On-the-job training (OJT) includes skills learned and work experience undertaken “in the field.”
The precise number of prerequisite OJT hours differs from trade to trade. Generally, meeting this requirement involves completing and documenting between 6,000 and 6,200 total work hours.
USMAP provides two different approaches to obtaining the desired certification. Time-based apprenticeships enable service members who are new to an occupation and lack the necessary experience to become certified or attain journeyworker status. Competency-based apprenticeships allow service members with the proper occupational experience and ranked E-5 and above to demonstrate competencies for each related job function and/or take the necessary training to achieve those competencies.
The USMAP process begins by identifying an eligible trade through the match page that sorts by service (Navy, Marines, Coast Guard, Army, All Services), then by rating or desired trade. After reviewing the selected trade requirements, the next step is enrolling in USMAP and, upon acceptance, working and recording the prerequisite hours.
Please share this information with service members who might benefit from USMAP as they prepare for a transition into civilian life.