Fellows spend 90 to 180 days working with a NASA office or organization while building knowledge and professional networks. Their military branch provides their pay and benefits, which NASA says means no additional cost to the agency for their support. [S1]

For Air Force space professional Albert Meza, the transition also affected family logistics. NASA reported that SkillBridge let him move to Houston with his family ahead of his retirement in 2019. He later became a payload integration manager at Johnson and an on-site SkillBridge coordinator. [S1]

NASA says many Johnson fellows have accepted full-time positions at the agency. Among them is Patricia Elliston, who joined the center’s Protective Services Division through SkillBridge in spring 2023 and went on to work as a cyber intelligence analyst in its Flight Operations Directorate. [S1]

Source documents

  1. Commitment to Service Continues at Johnson for Military Retireeshttps://www.nasa.gov/centers-and-facilities/johnson/commitment-to-service-continues-at-johnson-for-military-retirees/