Two tracks. One of them is for where you are
We run an independent twelve-month fellowship for members who are still serving, and we host DoW SkillBridge participants in their final months of service. They are different programs under different rules, and the one you want depends on whether you are staying in.
Start with your separation date
It is the only question that matters at the front end. SkillBridge is a transition authority, so eligibility turns on whether you are leaving. If you are staying in, SkillBridge is not open to you, and the Fellowship is.
ellimaC Defense Fellowship
You are staying in. Active Duty, Guard, Reserve, or a federal civilian, with time left on your obligation, who wants industry exposure without leaving the service.
- Twelve months, off duty, alongside your regular duties
- Independent of the Department, and not sponsored by it
- Requires off-duty employment approval through your chain of command
- Open to a drilling reservist or guardsman, which SkillBridge is not
DoW SkillBridge host placement
You are separating or retiring. Inside your final 180 days, looking for a host company for the last stretch of your service.
- 60 to 180 days depending on your service and your rank
- You stay on full military pay and benefits the whole time
- We provide the training plan and acceptance letter your package needs
- Requires commander approval, which is never automatic
The ellimaC Defense Fellowship
An independent, twelve-month private-sector industry immersion, built for operators who want to bridge commercial technology and the defense ecosystem while they are still serving.
Built for operators who bridge the gap
The Fellowship is designed to be accessible to any Department of War member, including Active Duty, Guard, Reserve, and federal civilians, alongside SkillBridge interns who want the coursework as well as the placement.
Fellows are high-performing intrapreneurs who want to spend a year actively working in the dual-use technology ecosystem rather than reading about it. Most arrive fluent in the mission and new to the market. They leave fluent in both.
- Members with time left on their obligation.You are not separating, and you want a second skill set while you serve.
- Drilling Guard and Reserve members.SkillBridge is closed to you unless you are separating. This is not.
- Federal civilians in the defense enterprise.Same off-duty rules apply, and the same ethics review.
Officially commenced June 1, 2026. Applications for cohort 26.4 are open.
- Phase one: Tech-to-Gov curriculum.Defense technology integration, government proposal and capture management, and small business operations. An actionable skill set, not a certificate.
- Phase two: portfolio embedding.Fellows embed across our portfolio of eight dual-use AI and aerospace companies and apply an operational perspective to live technology development.
Independent, transparent, compliant
ellimaC Partners is a private entity. This fellowship is not officially sponsored, endorsed, or funded by the Department of War. We put that first, because the people considering it have a chain of command that will ask.
Off-duty status
For Active Duty members and federal employees, participation is strictly an off-duty professional development opportunity. All work occurs outside official duty hours.
Command approval
Active Duty and federal participants must obtain official off-duty employment approval through their chain of command and their local legal and ethics offices before starting.
Conflict of interest
Fellows adhere to the Joint Ethics Regulation. Participants act in their individual capacity, cannot represent the government, and cannot use their position for private gain.
Three primary functions
Operating in a purely private capacity, fellows use their operational backgrounds in three ways.
The operator-translator
Fellows help shape SBIR and STTR capture strategies by translating commercial capabilities into language that addresses publicly known defense gaps and unfunded priorities.
The operator in the loop
Fellows run end-user testing and give ground-truth feedback, so commercial AI and hardware are designed for the flight line and command and control environments they may end up in.
Dual-use discovery
Fellows map existing commercial technology to emerging military frameworks such as Agile Combat Employment, helping companies find defense verticals they did not know they fit.
We host DoW SkillBridge participants
If you are separating or retiring, SkillBridge lets you spend your final months training with a civilian company while your service keeps paying you. We are one of the companies that hosts. Here is what you actually need to know, including the part most host companies get wrong.
What SkillBridge actually is
SkillBridge is an authority, not a job. It runs under 10 U.S.C. 1143(e) and DoD Instruction 1322.29, and it lets your commander release you from your normal duties so you can train with a civilian employer for a defined period before you separate.
You stay on full military pay, allowances and benefits the entire time. Your service pays you, not us. We are prohibited from paying you or giving you anything of value, which is a federal ethics rule rather than an employer being cheap.
It is also not an entitlement. Your commander decides, and for senior members that decision now sits well above the unit.
- You expect to separate or retire within 180 days of starting.This is the rule that decides everything. If you are staying in, look at the Fellowship instead.
- You have already served at least 180 continuous days on active duty.
- Your commander approves, and TAP counselling is done.Approval authority rises with rank. It cannot be delegated downward.
- You have no pre-existing relationship with us.Prior employment or a family member at the company will disqualify the placement, so tell us early.
The 180 days you have heard about is probably not yours
Department policy caps participation at 180 days. Every service except the Coast Guard has since set shorter limits by rank, and the Army and the Department of the Air Force changed theirs recently. If a host company is still telling you 180 days across the board, they have not read the current policy.
| Service | Rank band | Maximum days | Approval sits with |
|---|---|---|---|
| Army MILPER 25-116 | E1 to E5 | 120 | First field grade commander |
| E6 to E7, WO1 to CW3, O1 to O3 | 90 | First O6 commander | |
| E8 to E9, CW4 to CW5, O4 and above | 60 | First general officer | |
| Air Force AFI 36-2671, Mar 2026 | E1 to E5, O1 to O3 | 120 | First field grade commander |
| E6 to E7, O4, WO1 to CWO3 | 90 | First O6 commander | |
| E8 to E9, O5, CWO4 to CWO5 | 60 | First O6 commander | |
| Space Force SPFI 36-2672, Mar 2026 | E1 to E5 | 120 | First field grade commander |
| E6 to E8 | 120 | First O6 commander | |
| O1 to O4 | 120 | First O6 commander | |
| E9, O5 and above | 90 | General officer | |
| Navy NAVADMIN 064/23 | E5 and below | 180 | Commanding Officer |
| E6 to E9 | 120 | Commanding Officer | |
| O4 and below | 120 | Commanding Officer | |
| O5 and above | 90 | CO, with command endorsement | |
| Marine Corps MARADMIN 280/24 | E1 to E5 | 120 | Lieutenant Colonel and above |
| E6 to E7, WO to CWO3, O1 to O4 | 90 | Lieutenant Colonel and above | |
| E8 to E9, CWO4 to CWO5, O5 and above | 90 | General officers only | |
| Coast Guard ALCOAST 202/26 | All ranks | 180 | CO or OIC |
Air Force colonels are ineligible without an exception to policy. Sources: Army MILPER Message 25-116; AFI 36-2671 and SPFI 36-2672, both dated 31 March 2026; MyNavy HR SkillBridge guidance implementing NAVADMIN 064/23; MARADMIN 280/24; ALCOAST 202/26, dated 2 July 2026. Policy changes. Confirm your own number with your transition office before you plan around it.
Twelve months out: start looking
Most services open the application window a full year before separation. The paperwork is rarely the constraint. Finding a host that fits what you actually want to do next is.
Sixty to ninety days out: the package
You need a training plan and an acceptance letter from the host, your separation documentation, TAP completion, and your commander’s approval. We produce our two pieces in days, not weeks.
Submission deadlines are real
The Navy wants packages at least three weeks before the start date, the Department of the Air Force thirty days, and the Marine Corps ten working days. Build in slack for a commander’s calendar.
- A written training plan built around your goal.Federal business development, capture, and proposal work, with objectives you and your commander can read.
- An acceptance letter you can put in the package.
- Live work, not shadowing.You will sit on real pursuits. Our clients are dual-use technology companies, so the work is the same work we do for them.
- Access to the Fellowship curriculum.SkillBridge participants can take the Tech-to-Gov coursework alongside the placement.
- That we will pay you.We cannot, and no host can. Your service pays you throughout.
- That a placement is a job offer.Completing SkillBridge does not entitle you to employment with us. We would rather say that plainly at the start than imply otherwise.
- That we can move your separation date.Nobody can, and you cannot extend a service commitment in order to participate.
- That travel is covered.Getting to and from a host site is on you. We work remotely, which for most members removes the problem.
“I get 180 days.” Only if you are Coast Guard, or Navy E5 and below. Most members now get 60 to 120.
“A host said yes, so I am approved.” The host letter is one input. Your commander is the gate.
“I can stack it with terminal leave and PTDY.” All of it has to fit inside the same final window, and several services count them together.
“I can do it fully remote and asynchronous.” Programs must include live or hybrid elements. Asynchronous-only training is not permitted under the current agreement.
“Knowing someone here helps.” It disqualifies the placement. A pre-existing relationship, including a family member at the company, is a bar rather than an advantage.
Start with a conversation, not a form
Tell us which track you are on and where you are in your timeline. If SkillBridge is the right fit, we will tell you what your service currently authorizes for your rank and what your realistic start date looks like. If it is not, we will say that too, and point you at the Fellowship or somewhere else entirely.
Nobody fills out anything until we both think it makes sense.
- Your service and your rank.It determines your authorized period, which determines everything else.
- Your separation or retirement date, if you have one.
- What you want to be doing in two years.The training plan is written backwards from that, so a vague answer produces a vague plan.