The recent reports involving the USS Abraham Lincoln, including multiple reported suicide attempts, sailors attempting to go overboard, food shortages; a lack of hygienic products, such as deodorant, toothpaste and soap; moldy showers, nonoperational toilets, laundry facilities that have been broken for weeks, and families describing a growing mental health crisis during an extended deployment, demonstrate that we must strengthen The Brandon Act immediately because the military is not doing what it must to protect the men and women that must go to battle to protect us and our nation.

The Brandon Act allows US service members to receive mental health help immediately without retaliation and without going through their chain of command.

The Brandon Act became law because Congress recognized that service members must be able to seek mental health care without fear of stigma, retaliation, or unnecessary barriers. Yet too many service members remain unaware of their rights, and implementation across the Department of War remains inconsistent.

Every service member deserves:

• Immediate access to mental health care.
• A culture that encourages seeking help instead of fearing career consequences.
• Standardized implementation across every branch of service.
• Leaders who understand their responsibilities under The Brandon Act.
• Accountability when policies intended to protect service members are not followed.

We call upon Congress to immediately pass legislation strengthening The Brandon Act by requiring:

• Standardized annual Brandon Act training for all service members, leaders, and medical personnel.
• Ensuring every military installation prominently displays information about The Brandon Act through posters, digital signage, and other awareness campaigns.
• Standardized implementation protocols throughout the Department of War.
• Independent oversight and reporting to measure awareness, implementation, and compliance.
• Equivalent protections for the National Guard and Reserve Components along with the US Coast Guard and ROTC.
• Implement training and protocols to ensure commanders understand their responsibilities when a service member invokes The Brandon Act.

Clear accountability measures to ensure every service member can access the protections, the care and support Congress intended for The Brandon Act.

The USS Abraham Lincoln should serve as a wake-up call that our service members should never have to reach a fatal breaking point before action is taken.  Military readiness depends upon healthy, resilient service members. Strengthening The Brandon Act is not about creating new barriers or bureaucracy; it is about ensuring an existing law is consistently implemented and that every service member has access to the protections Congress has already provided.

No service member should fear asking for help.

No family should lose a loved one because they were unable to access the care our men and women in service needed.

We petition Congress to act without delay and pass legislation strengthening The Brandon Act so that every service member knows they are valued, supported, and never alone.

We petition that the Armed Services Committees have congressional hearings on the mental health of our US service members and that The Brandon Act is being implemented consistently across all branches of the US military according to the law.  

We owe those who protect and serve more than our gratitude.

We owe them action.

AE3 Brandon Caserta would be alive today if The Brandon Act was available in 2018 when he tragically took his life by jumping into the spinning tail rotor of a helicopter on his HSC-28 command flight line in Norfolk, Virginia. He left behind a suicide letter that identified toxic and abusive leadership within HSC-28 and asked his parents to take action to prevent this from happening again to other families. 

I am Teri Caserta, Brandon Caserta’s mother and co-author of The Brandon Act.  I am urgently asking you to join us in this cause to help us strengthen and pass the full implementation of The Brandon Act that passed Congress in 2021. 

Please sign this petition and urge Congress to strengthen The Brandon Act and hold the Department of War accountable for protecting the mental health and well-being of our men and women in uniform. No family should ever have to receive the devastating knock on the door that their loved one is gone because help was unavailable, delayed, or misunderstood.