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Dec. 26, 2022. Eugene Oliver/U.S. . Friday's regulation formalizes such waivers into a multi-step review process. The Army granted a similar waiver last year, and beard exemptions have been granted for a growing number of Sikhs and Muslims though not atheists. It also outlines the process to request these exemptions, sets timelines for management to respond, and ensures that the approvals will follow someone throughout his or her career in the Air Force. So far, the Air Force has banned beards for all except those who have five-year medical waivers for pseudofolliculitis barbae, or chronic razor bumps, or religious waivers for those for whom. The Brig. This condition, which the American Osteopathic College of Dermatology says affects up to 60 percent of Black men, occurs when curved facial hairs grow back into the skin. Sikhs have served honorably and capably in the U.S. Armed Forces and other militaries around the world, and while we are eager for a blanket proclamation that all observant Sikh Americans can serve in every branch of the military without seeking accommodations, this policy clarification is a great step forward towards ensuring equality of opportunity and religious freedom in the Air Force.. The military branch . Wing commanders or other leaders at major commands, numbered air forces or other organizations will then approve or deny such a request. Despite being in line with regulations, airmen with waivers reported feeling stigmatized for wearing facial hair. 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I was willfully ignorant about the impact it was having on young Black men, he said. 2 0 obj dx xE28;eN0ORG*sMhw_2iL!o@/dUKS0sD~-dd!7r.7ucOjP0GH#_&F%)wr-' He previously covered leadership and personnel issues at Air Force Times, and the Pentagon, special operations and air warfare at Military.com. Beards can also be seen as symbols of power, strength, and virility. Such a request for an exemption to a military policy can only be denied, the AFI change said, if the policy furthers a compelling government interest and is the least restrictive way of furthering that interest. 1 0 obj And at least two airmen who follow the Norse Heathen, or pagan, faiths have been granted permission to wear a beard. Abdul Rahman Gaitan in 2018 became the first Muslim airman to receive a beard waiver for religious reasons. We are working to take away the stigma attached to airmen who have a medical need or a religious accommodation for facial hair, Bass wrote in a comment on her Facebook page on Tuesday. Beard Religious Waivers in Air Force Norse Pagan, Sikh, Muslim and other Airmen have officially been granted religious waivers to wear beards. Those interested in pursuing a shaving waiver at Al Dhafra can attend shaving waiver clinic walk-in hours on the second and fourth Tuesday of every month from 8 a.m. to 2 p.m., or schedule an appointment at the 380th EMDG clinic during walk-in hours from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. daily. US Air Force photo by Airman 1st Class Jackson Manske. The Quran, too, was used in a similar manner. The Air Forces updated policy sets new grooming and uniform standards for members who wear turbans, hijabs and beards for religious reasons. Though some white supremacist groups in recent years have co-opted Norse symbols such as runes, Sopchak rejected that and said his faith is not racist in any way. Press J to jump to the feed. Muslim, Sikh and pagan members of the Air Force have individually requested and received waivers for religious apparel and beards in recent years, but this is the first time the guidelines and the accompanying approval process are being standardized. A member of the Air Force Special Operations Command (AFSOC) has received the first-ever religious-related waiver, allowing him to wear a turban and keep a beard. Airman 1st Class Harpreetinder Singh Bajwa in June 2019 became the first active-duty Sikh airman allowed to wear a turban, beard and long hair, which Sikhs tie in a bun and then cover with the turban. A staff judge advocate must also review the request package. Also, do you have to be able to prove that you are that religion or can you just claim that you are a Muslim and thats that. (In heathen lore . &w\=xi~Wh^iz`b=)!]T;iMC.OXm(+N*uHe{5"@"o$n*uQI'JHyLij%O&Q3 .\nOemNKW2j2ttYK9sll?hyA/fQ/lF\ pVyH0qd~T#o[Bpi*In=mS hU f[6rx~ 8;GO yNb4.A`t`Wj Articles may contain affiliate links which enable us to share in the revenue of any purchases made. The Air Force has updated its grooming standards to formally allow Airmen to grow neatly trimmed beards, standardizing the religious or medical exemption process. Capture a web page as it appears now for use as a trusted citation in the future. We dont believe that theres a superior race, Sopchak said. Sopchak said hes recently had some airmen, who were interested in exploring his religion, email him with questions, and hes helping other Air Force Heathens get their beards approved. The conventional view of facial hair is that it looks unprofessional in uniform. <> 1 comment. I want to go all out with practing the religion (including reading the Quran like it is recommened during Ramadan. According to the Nevada Army Guard's and Air Guard's personnel offices, the state has eight Guardsmen - four Soldiers and four Airmen - who declare Pagan as their religious preference. Also in 2019, Airman 1st Class Harpreetinder Singh Bajwa became the first Sikh airman to receive an accommodation for a turban, beard and unshorn hair, and two Norse Heathen airmen were also allowed to grow beards. Be aware though, that the belief must be sincere, which means you will likely be interviewed by the chaplain about your beliefs, and they will advise your CC on whether or not your beliefs are sincere, or you're just trying to get a beard. Thanks for attaching this, it seems like a simple enough process to get the accommodation. 2023 BuzzFeed, Inc. 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Changing policy, actually is the easy part, Wright said. Another example of neat and conservative is color. This condition can appear in a person of any ethnicity but is predominantly seen in Blacks/African Americans, study authors wrote. As we work to build a more inclusive force, we are constantly assessing and evaluating all of the processes and programs that affect our Airmen, she said. Heres how. "There is no religious requirement for beards in Heathenry," the post read. Correction: This story was updated at 6:53 p.m. to reflect correct information about religious waivers for beards. Registration on or use of this site constitutes acceptance of our Terms of Service. The AFI allows the Air Force to deny a request for a waiver only if it furthers a compelling government interest., Groups such as the Sikh American Legal Defense and Education Fund, the Sikh Coalition, and the Council on American-Islamic Relations announced their support for the decision, with CAIR saying Feb. 12 it is a step toward religious accommodation and inclusion for military personnel of all faiths., No Sikh American should have to choose between their religious beliefs and their career ambitions, Giselle Klapper, a Sikh Coalition staff attorney, said in a release. A religious accommodation request must include information including the airmans job, what the airman is asking for and the religious reason for the request, and a comment on the sincerity of the request. This means that even though the study measured only about 4% of all male airmen, the findings would likely be similar if extended to the entire branch. There's no more reliable source for news about your Air Force. The updated Air Force Instruction, released Feb. 7, also formally allows Sikh airmen to wear turbans and Muslim women to wear hijabs. Get the latest in military news, entertainment and gear in your inbox daily. There are plenty of smaller regulations detailing how religious beards and apparel should look in order to appear neat and conservative, the Air Force writes. Shaving Waiver stigma Air Force Medicine medical beard Al Dhafra . Chief of Space Operations Gen. B. Islam & The First Religious Beard in The US Military (Air Force) The first person granted a beard waiver in the U.S. Airforce due to his faith was a Muslim soldier. The problem is how to convince the rest of the Air Force to follow suit. The airmans unit commander would then decide whether to endorse the request. The Sikh Coalition, the largest Sikh civil rights organization in the United States which has helped more than 20 Sikh Americans serve in the military, applauded the changes. The new version of the service's dress and appearance standards policy allows tattoos up to 1 . In 2020, the department extended shaving waivers for those diagnosed with razor bumps from one year to five years. Airmen can use styling products on their beards, but petroleum-based products are not allowed while wearing a protective mask. Her work has appeared in Air Force Magazine, Inside Defense, Inside Health Policy, the Frederick News-Post (Md. The studys findings are particularly significant because they come at a time when the Air Force is reckoning with racial disparities in the service overall. Abdul Rahman Gaitan, an aerial porter with the 821st Contingency Response Support Squadron at Travis Air Force Base, was granted a religious waiver permitting him to keep a beard due to his Muslim faith, according to an Air Force article published Friday. Chaplains typically can tell if you're trying to BS them and it can affect the perceived credibility of real requests in the future. The study also called for re-examining the Air Forces most-cited reason for having a beard regulation, which is the concern that a beard would interfere with a gas masks seal around an airmans face. The religious beard exemption in the US army was created for the benefit of Sikhs. "Sikhs are allowed to wear beards and turbans because it actually is a religious requirement of their faith that they do so. The Army granted a similar waiver last year, and beard exemptions have been granted for a growing number of Sikhs and Muslims . In a Tuesday update of the Department of the Air Force's COVID-19 response, the service announced it had approved nine religious accommodations, including eight through service members' major and field commands and one through a Department of the Air Force appeal. The update to AFI 36-2903, Dress and personal appearance of Air Force personnel, allows airmen to request a waiver to wear religious apparel, as long as they are neat and conservative and present a professional and well-groomed appearance. Brown Jr. covered a broad range of topics with his additions to his Leadership Library in February. That matches the length allowed for people who are medically exempt from the requirement to be clean-shaven. A California-based airman has become the first Muslim airman to receive a beard waiver after a 2014 policy. It must also include a photo or description of the head covering, religious-affiliated item, grooming standard or personal appearance that is being requested. Sure, but how about competitive pay and benefits? And in February, the Air Force officially updated its regulations to formally allow airmen to request religious beard waivers. Its an unsubstantiated claim, dermatologist Lt. Col. Simon Ritchie told Task & Purpose in May. Get your daily fix of Air Force news delivered right to your inbox every day. In 2018, the Air Force granted its first "religious accommodation beard waiver" to a Muslim airman, allowing him to wear a beard while in uniform. Rather than delay his enlistment, Comer decided to shave his beard and apply for the accommodation at a later date. The U.S. Air Force issued new guidelines on Friday giving members who wear religious apparel a way to serve the country without compromising their faith. That was followed up by more leaked slides in October which promised that an updated facial hair standard would be considered at a November meeting of the Air Force Uniform Board, Coffee or Die Magazine reported. A federal appeals court on Friday granted a preliminary injunction allowing two Sikh men to immediately begin basic training with the U.S. Marine Corps without shaving their beards . While supporters of current Air Force policy may have anecdotal evidence of one to five people who they see fail the fit test, he said, that cant be extrapolated to hundreds of thousands of airmen.. So I am not some expert I just watch YouTube videos of the teachings of Islam. addresses the Air Force grooming standard for beards: "[b]eards are not authorizedunless for medical reasons, when authorized by a commander on the advice of a medical official." An Airmen who requests an accommodation waiver to grow a beard for religious reasons must follow The Air Force's updated dress and personal appearance policy clarifies the gr ooming and uniform standards for members who wear turbans, hijabs and beards for religious reasons. Start with the chaplain, and work with them to route the request through your chain. What happens when patients disagree with an exemption decision? All told, Brown added two books, two podcasts, and a documentary, The Air Force now has a single website to manage all its recruiting needs, covering Active Duty, Air National Guard and Air Force Reserve recruiting. In March 2021, after Comer arrived at Maxwell Air Force Base, he started talking to his first sergeant about applying for a religious accommodation to obtain a beard waiver. And last December, a group of sailors on the aircraft carrier John C. Stennis held the Navys first Heathen lay service. A highly visible sign of changing Air Force policy may soon be evident here at Kingsley Field, in Klamath Falls, Oregon. Because its a faith that hasnt been practiced in about 1,000 years, he said, theres no set way to practice it. Many Asatruars and other heathens think it's wrong for heathens to use this exemption because heathens don't have the kind of religion in which our gods require all their followers to follow commandments in order to achieve a proper afterlife. The authors called for wider research in the area in order to refute or substantiate their findings. The last sentence indicates that Air Force senior leadership wants to be in sync with other services on major changes in facial hair policy. Sounds like you might want to talk to your local chaplain team. In the words of the Hungarian scholar Goldziher, 'The history of religion . But if the unit commander is going to say no, the regulation said, it must be an unusual situation and based on real (not theoretical) compelling government interest, such as safety. Stephen Losey is the air warfare reporter for Defense News. And in June, a Sikh airman received approval to wear a beard and turban. A1C Rathour is the first Sikh Airman to receive religious accommodation, and may grow his beard and wear his turban while in uniform. Those encounters, along with studies like the one published last year, convinced Wright to change his position. Does anyone have any information on how you actually get a religious exemption for shaving? Wright, who is Black, said he resolved his own shaving irritation by learning how to shave in a way that would not irritate his skin, so he assumed other airmen would be able to resolve their irritation the same way. Sikhs have served honorably and capably in the U.S. Armed Forces and other militaries around the world, and while we are eager for a blanket proclamation that all observant Sikh Americans can serve in every branch of the military without seeking accommodations, this policy clarification is a great step forward towards ensuring equality of opportunity and religious freedom in the Air Force.. This is a volunteers proposal.. He received a beard waiver on July 8, 2019. Seven months later, this reporter could not immediately find any such progress reports. Get the latest military news, entertainment, and gear in your inbox daily. Get the latest in military news, entertainment and gear in your inbox daily. Its unclear how many people currently use shaving waivers. Any links to regs would be appricated. . requests requiring a waiver for uniform wear and grooming have largely fallen into one of three faith practices: the wear of a hijab; the wear of a beard; and the wear of a turban or under-turban/patka, with uncut beard and uncut hair. Copyright 2023. Sorry airmen, you're not getting beards without a medical or religious waiver anytime soon, as Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. Charles 'CQ' Brown and Chief Master Sergeant of the Air Force . The research studied the effect of shaving waivers on the careers of active duty male airmen. In December, The Air Force released a sweeping review which found that Black service members are disproportionately punished and promoted more slowly when compared to their White peers. If youre willing to learn, we are willing to teach.. Rathour graduated Security Forces technical training on Sept. 26, 2019. The new religious accommodation rules also cover unshorn beards and unshorn hair such as those worn by members of the Sikh faith under-turbans or patkas, and other indoor or outdoor head coverings. ak cGeoI0_enzM8_#.Skvv1Nx72!oaBV >q@yN;NG.s;9>/B32:*I=u/x|=3;.m1.DWc(P(mZ XZ The Sikh Coalition, an advocacy group which works on behalf of Sikhs and other religious minorities in the military, praised the new regulation. Don't lie about your belief. But his community now meets in parks or homes to commemorate holidays such as Yule and the solstices. I have an approved religious accommodation and have gotten pretty knowledgeable on the process. I can assure you that we are focused on our Airmen; they are the most competitive advantage we haveand we must get the people piece right.. Last year, Capt. Previously, these airmen needed to get their waivers updated annually. Market-leading rankings and editorial commentary - see the top law firms & lawyers for Not-for-profit (nonprofit and tax exempt organizations) in United States A federal judge Thursday temporarily blocked the Air Force from penalizing a group of service members who are seeking a religious exemption to otherwise mandatory Covid-19 vaccination, in. Since then, 21 Honor Guard airmen now have a pass to grow neatly-trimmed beards, according to Military.com. of the Air Force Kaleth Wright, said in April on a panel discussion on male grooming standards in the Air Force. The review directed Air Force commanders to conduct a root cause analysis of racial disparities within their commands, develop an action plan for reporting them, then release a progress report within six months. Anecdotal evidence and a July 2021 study in the journal Military Medicine indicate that airmen with shaving waivers are more often passed over for promotions and other professional opportunities because of their appearance. Airman becomes the first Muslim to be granted service's beard waiver for observing religion By Jon Simkins Nov 20, 2018 Air Force Staff Sgt. Its kind of a big thing, culturally.. x\[o~d/Sp|A|=hdDPwfvIQuDgg?ydtx.b`1K55'V#wLDP,(Wj United States Air Force members who refused to take the COVID vaccine for religious reasons will soon get a reprieve from the punitive actions the military took against them. The updated Air Force Instruction, released Feb. 7, also formally allows Sikh airmen to wear turbans and Muslim women to wear hijabs. Under certain conditions, commanding officers can order the removal of turbans or hijabs to keep service members safe, the regulations state for example, while someone is walking within 25 feet of an operating aircraft. Editors note: This story has been updated with new comments from Chief Master Sergeant of the Air Force JoAnne Bass. At the end of the day, while we are continually out in front with initiatives that provide more opportunities for our airmen to serve to their full potential, we are cognizant that we are part of a broader military force.. The female hair changes were not a want, it was very much a need based on health first when I talk with our men in uniform: Is this a need or is this a want?. If they didnt have one, in some of the stories, they were actually ridiculed. Some of it was because I just ignored it, some of it was because I wanted these young men to do what I did: just suck it up and figure it out and youll be fine.. Theyre more like family members than they are divine beings, Sopchak said. The Air Force encourages religious freedoms of service members as one of four pillars of resiliency to help build and sustain a strong and healthy workplace and community. Many airmen on social media called for abandoning the beard prohibition altogether. Kuzminski said it makes the Air Force and Space Force the first branches to look at a facial hair pilot program not tied to a religious or medical waiver, which would help normalize facial hair . The Air Forces updated dress and personal appearance policy clarifies the grooming and uniform standards for members who wear turbans, hijabs and beards for religious reasons. A U.S. soldier who is serving in Afghanistan has received a uniform religious exception to sport a beard based upon his Norse pagan beliefs. In August, images posted on Air Force amn/nco/snco teased a pilot program for inclusive male grooming standards which would allow service members to grow neatly-kept facial hair up to a quarter-inch in length, according to Air & Space Forces Magazine. There are also exceptions for Air Force Reservists serving less than 30 days.