Through SkillBridge, DOD Provides Boost to Southern Border Mission

Published June 12, 2025
By C. Todd Lopez

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth recently signed a memorandum that provides additional assistance to the Department of Homeland Security's Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Customs and Border Protection divisions through enhancements to the Defense Department's own SkillBridge program.

Two Marines lean over a table and write on documents.

SkillBridge gives retiring and separating service members the ability to conduct on-the-job training in the private and civil sectors so they can successfully transition on behalf of a grateful nation.

"Recognizing the importance of leveraging talent and furthering our commitment to work with DHS, the department is expanding opportunities for transitioning service members to support southern border activities, particularly through the SkillBridge program, which provides real-world job experience during their final 180 days of service," Hegseth's May 28, 2025, memo reads.

Under the secretary's direction, military departments will encourage service members considering participation in the SkillBridge program to seek internships, apprenticeships or on-the-job training with either ICE or CBP.

While opportunities with ICE and CBP have existed for five years, the department's focused promotion of specifically ICE and CBP as SkillBridge opportunities is new, said Michael Miller, the director of DOD's military-civilian transition office.

"Typically, the department does not recommend to service members any specific post-separation career field," he said. "Instead, we inform them. We provide them the skills to navigate the employment arena, and we then leave them to identify their post-separation career field independently."

A man sits in a chair alongside others, some in uniform. He is talking.

However, Miller said that as a result of the national emergency at the southern border in January, DOD is increasing its support to DHS, including through SkillBridge. In turn, SkillBridge gives America’s best the opportunity to continue their selfless-service and continue to give back to the nation.

"We will advertise and prioritize the opportunities to participate with the CBP and ICE," he said, adding that DOD is working with DHS to develop focused information highlighting those opportunities.

The secretary has also told the military services that when service members choose to participate in SkillBridge with ICE or CBP, the services should approve those requests to the maximum extent possible.

By encouraging participation in SkillBridge with ICE and CBP, the Defense Department provides those agencies with access to its most valuable asset — its people. It also gives DHS the incredible opportunity to fill its ranks with the best and brightest personnel who may one day, after completing their SkillBridge training and separating from the military, find employment within DHS and be available to support the southern border mission.

SkillBridge is a DOD effort to assist service members in transitioning more successfully from military life into the civilian workforce. After service members complete the Transition Assistance Program and before separating from the military, they can also apply to participate in SkillBridge as a way to gain skills and experience needed for civilian employment — and they do it while still receiving pay from the military.

As part of SkillBridge, service members can spend up to 180 days before their separation from service with one of approximately 6,900 partner businesses and agencies to learn job skills in nearly 10,000 areas to assist them in preparing for civilian employment. In many cases, the same business or agency may offer the service member a job upon completion of their participation in the program.

"We have high rates of employment. With some programs, 90-95% go straight into employment," Miller said. "The rates we get are way above industry standard for almost any other type of training program."

He said SkillBridge partners are well-vetted and have a variety of solid training plans in place to ensure that a service member's time with them is well spent.

"We check the history of their company; we go through a vetting process," Miller said. "Once that's done, they will develop training plans for the different opportunities they want to offer, and we'll approve those training plans as well."

DHS is not new to SkillBridge, he said, noting that it's been a validated SkillBridge partner for five years. There are 11 different DHS entities, including ICE and CBP, involved in SkillBridge.

Service members who opt to participate in SkillBridge training with ICE or CBP may not necessarily end up at the southern border as part of their training. Instead, Miller said, participants are more likely to train for jobs ICE and CBP are currently prioritizing as part of the southern border mission.

"These are training programs, so they could be offered at a centralized location based on that training package," he said. "There's a multitude of things currently in the portfolio that they're offering training packages on, from human resources jobs to legal jobs and other things as well. Those are all supporting the southern border [mission] if that's where they're planning to use those resources."

As an example of what's possible, Miller said, ICE or CBP could hire a SkillBridge service member they trained in a non-border-related job, and that new employee could then replace a border-trained employee, freeing them to go down to the border.

"That's the same effect," he said. "These are the strategic things that CBP and ICE will have to look at."

Miller said typically, one year before separation, a service member should begin the Transition Assistance Program. It's within the TAP program that they learn more about SkillBridge. He added that the Defense Department is committed to assisting DHS in fulfilling both its mission at the border and helping service members secure civilian employment after leaving the service.

"The department is proud to support our colleagues at the Department of Homeland Security through partnerships such as SkillBridge," said Tim Dill, who is performing the duties of deputy undersecretary of defense for personnel and readiness. "Our uniformed personnel receive world-class training that prepares them to adapt and succeed in any professional setting. We encourage transitioning service members considering SkillBridge to continue to contribute to the security and territorial integrity of the nation through DHS' critical operations."