thinQtank Learning Is Now a DoD SkillBridge Provider: Train for Your Next IT Career in Your Last 180 Days

I've spent my career training the people who keep networks running and secure, and a lot of them have worn a uniform. So I'm proud to share this: thinQtank Learning is now an authorized Department of War SkillBridge provider. Our Memorandum of Understanding was fully executed on November 4, 2026, and it runs through November 2028. If you're in your last 180 days of service, you can now spend that time training full time with us, live, for an IT career, while you keep your military pay and benefits.

Here's what SkillBridge is, what we built for it, what it costs you (nothing), and exactly how to get started.

180Days of service you can use $0Tuition, materials, labs and practice exams 8Career pathways built for real jobs 40Hours a week, at most The program

What DoD SkillBridge actually is

SkillBridge is a Department of War program that lets service members spend up to their last 180 days of service in civilian job training, apprenticeships or internships, with their commander's approval. You stay on active duty and keep your full military pay and benefits. The training provider can't charge you for the training. Your job during that time is to get ready for the career you're about to start.

It's one of the best transition benefits the military offers, and it's underused, mostly because people find out about it too late. The window is real, and the paperwork takes time.

Where SkillBridge fits

Your final year of service, with the SkillBridge window shown in red.

SkillBridge · up to 180 days 365 days out180 days outSeparation What we built

Eight pathways, each one aimed at a job title

Most SkillBridge training teaches you one thing. We built pathways instead: our live bootcamps chained back to back toward one specific job, with a career week and time with hiring employers built in. Each week is a full bootcamp of 40 hours or less, and every pathway fits well inside your 180-day window.

SOC Analyst

6 weeks · 240 hours A+Network+Security+CySA+CyberOps AssociateSOC capstone SOC analyst, cybersecurity analyst, cyber defense analyst

Network Engineer

5 weeks · 184 hours CCNACCNA labsENCORENARSIEnterprise capstone Network administrator, network engineer, NOC engineer

Network Security Engineer

6 weeks · 232 hours Security+CCNACCNA labsSCORSISESNCF Network security engineer, firewall engineer, security administrator

Incident Responder / Threat Hunter

5 weeks · 200 hours Security+CyberOps AssociateCBRCORCBRFIRECIH Incident responder, threat hunter, digital forensics analyst

Network Automation Engineer

5 weeks · 184 hours CCNACCNA labsLinux+DevNet AssociateENAUTO Network automation engineer, NetDevOps engineer

Penetration Tester

5 weeks · 192 hours Network+Security+CEHPenTest+CND Penetration tester, vulnerability analyst, red team member

GRC / RMF Analyst

5 weeks · 192 hours Security+CISSPCDPSECRISCCGRC RMF analyst, ISSO, cyber compliance analyst

Cybersecurity Leader

4 weeks · 160 hours CISSPAAISMCCISOCAIPM Information security manager, ISSM, security program manager. Built for senior NCOs and officers.

Why pathways? Because employers don't hire a certification, they hire a person who can do a job. A transitioning service member who shows up with a clearance, five related certifications' worth of training and a capstone project is a very different candidate from one with a single course on a résumé. The SOC and RMF roles in particular are among the most-hired positions at defense contractors, because every DoD network needs monitoring and every DoD system needs authorization.

Short window? Any 5-day bootcamp in our Cisco, CompTIA, EC-Council, ISACA or ISC2 catalog can run as a one-week, 40-hour SkillBridge program. Longer classes, like our 7-day CISSP or 9-day CCNP Security bootcamp, run over two weeks.

What's included

Every program comes with the same four things

Live instruction, full time

At least half of every week is live with an instructor, with hands-on labs every day and practice exams. Train in person in Sterling, VA, Burbank, CA or Atlanta, GA, or live online over Cisco WebEx from wherever you're stationed.

Instructors who've done the work

I teach as a Cisco Certified Systems Instructor (CCSI), CompTIA CTT+ and EC-Council Certified Instructor, and I hold an active CISSP and every CCNA and CCNP track. Chris Avants is a CCSI with a CCIE Wireless and a CWNE.

Career help built in

Résumé and LinkedIn review, interview practice and dedicated time with hiring employers, before you separate, not after.

Free retakes for 24 months

Need more time on a topic after you finish? Retake the class, in part or in full, in person or online, at no cost for two years.

One thing to know about exams. Certification exams are optional and are not part of the SkillBridge program. You complete the program without them. Every pathway prepares you for its exams, and you can take them during or after your transition. Many service members pay for exams through Army Credentialing Assistance, their service's COOL program or GI Bill licensing and certification test reimbursement. Your education center can tell you what you qualify for.

Getting started

Six steps from TAP to your first day of class

1. Check your window. You can train during your last 180 days of service. Our window calculator shows when yours opens, and takes terminal leave into account.
2. Start TAP early. Your service's Transition Assistance Program comes first, and SkillBridge packets generally need it underway. Twelve months out is not too early.
3. Pick a pathway. Use our pathway matcher or just tell us the job you want. We'll fit the plan to your dates.
4. Get your program letter. Register interest and we'll send the training plan, schedule and program details your packet needs.
5. Get command approval. Your first field-grade commander approves the packet, and your TAP counselor helps you route it. You must have approval before you start.
6. Train and get hired. Train full time with a live instructor, meet our hiring partners during your career week, and leave ready for your exams.

For commands and employers

What we commit to

Commands and TAP counselors

A program letter and training plan for every packet, class schedules up front so you can plan release dates, and attendance, discipline or injury issues reported to the approving authority right away, as our MOU requires.

Employers

Graduates trained for a specific job, many already cleared, whom you can meet before they separate. Becoming a thinQtank hiring partner costs nothing. Tell us the roles you hire for and we'll introduce you to graduates who fit.

Your last 180 days can be the start of your next career

Plan your window, pick your pathway and send us your dates. We'll reply within one business day with a training plan for your packet.

Plan my SkillBridge Become a hiring partner

Questions? Call 855-868-4467 or email sales@thinqtanklearning.com.

— Scott

SkillBridge is a Department of War program. Participation is voluntary and requires approval from your chain of command. thinQtank Learning is a private training provider and is not endorsed by the Department of War.

Sources

• DoD SkillBridge: program overview for service members, commands and providers