The Army this week implemented new Congress-mandated mental health rules that allow soldiers to request access to care for any reason, the service announced Friday.
Army Secretary Christine Wormuth issued orders Tuesday adopting the new policy Congress mandated in the 2021 Brandon Act, which sought to allow service members to confidentially and quickly request a mental health evaluation to stem military suicides.
The Army’s announcement comes more than a month after the Pentagon’s other military departments adopted the Brandon Act and amid pressure from the parents of the law’s namesake, Brandon Caserta, who accused the service of slow walking the policy and railroading their requests for information on suicides.
The Pentagon in May announced it had adopted the Brandon Act policies, which President Joe Biden signed into law in 2021, and it gave the military departments 45 days to adopt them for active-duty troops.
The Department of the Navy, which oversees the Navy and Marine Corps, adopted Brandon Act polices on July 11, and the Air Force Department, which oversees the Air Force and Space Force, adopted the new polices on July 28.
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