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.. During tours of less than 30 days, Air Force Reserve (AFR) and Air National Guard (ANG) chaplains not on extended active duty may request a beard waiver for religious observance when consistent with their faith. 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. Thats according to a new research paper published last week in the journal Military Medicine, which found that Air Force regulations against facial hair disproportionately affect Black or African American airmen and can lead to slower rates of promotion and limited job opportunities within the service. Rather than delay his enlistment, Comer decided to shave his beard and apply for the accommodation at a later date. Gurchetan Singh, the first Sikh American to secure a religious accommodation to serve in the Air National Guard, said Wednesday that hes grateful for the Air Forces policy change. For example, it took airmen with eight or more years with a waiver about a year longer on average to get promoted to the rank of technical sergeant (E-6) compared to airmen who had a waiver for just a year or two. Of them, 40 Airmen voluntarily left the service and 14 officers retired, according to Undersecretary of the Air Force Gina Ortiz Jones at a House Armed Services Committee hearing Feb. 28. So I am not some expert I just watch YouTube videos of the teachings of Islam. 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. U.S. Air Force Airman 1st Class Isaac John, 423d Security Forces Squadron flight member, holds his position during a field training exercise at Stanford Training Area, England, Aug. 17, 2022. 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. Thanks for attaching this, it seems like a simple enough process to get the accommodation. endobj And last December, a group of sailors on the aircraft carrier John C. Stennis held the Navys first Heathen lay service. The Air Force currently prohibits service members from growing beards unless they are granted a religious or medical waiver, a policy that has come under scrutiny lately after military doctors studied its discriminatory effect on Black airmen. Legacy sites goang.com and afreserve.com will now direct users to the central airforce.com site. The Air Forces updated policy sets new grooming and uniform standards for members who wear turbans, hijabs and beards for religious reasons. The Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) welcomed the policy change. ;NNB6 j~X3E]4]euu((m#/S>c9K71,E304a;97la@Ejrf-o eP9_$)'"?#EO!orCi=5P@C5TmJY;^qzU/nWXvvRH~]/C >K)a2MuOzZ.VsDNOr%rZR[TINcCPBi!U;$TXA9%9;?&>k37{X]sa`p3Wc1^CKtjBrx\5uI3 Does anyone have any information on how you actually get a religious exemption for shaving? While these issues affected airmen of all races who had shaving waivers equally, Black or African-American airmen made up the majority of the waiver holders and thus bore a disproportionate share of the consequences. Air Force Officially OKs Beards, Turbans, Hijabs for Religious Reasons . | endobj The airmans unit commander would then decide whether to endorse the request. 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. Soldiers assigned to the 3rd Infantry Division Sustainment Brigade use hot towels to warm their faces during a shaving clinic May 22 at the brigade's organizational classroom. According to the Department of Defense Instruction 1300. Would beards be nice? He previously covered leadership and personnel issues at Air Force Times, and the Pentagon, special operations and air warfare at Military.com. 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. Published Dec 21, 2022 5:12 PM EST. Rather than delay his enlistment, Comer decided to shave his beard and apply for the accommodation at a later date. 0. Paragraph 1.5.2.3 added: Members requesting a medical waiver to wear a beard must submit a letter Editors note: This story has been updated with new comments from Chief Master Sergeant of the Air Force JoAnne Bass. He has traveled to the Middle East to cover U.S. Air Force operations. Still, Ritchie called for a study to come up with a conclusive answer. Correction: This story was updated at 6:53 p.m. to reflect correct information about religious waivers for beards. The standards for growing a beard for medical reasons remain unchanged, the Air Force said. 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. We are working to take away the stigma attached to airmen who have a medical need or a religious accommodation for facial hair. The Air Force also granted its first religious accommodation beard waiver, to a Muslim airman, in 2018. "Sikhs are allowed to wear beards and turbans because it actually is a religious requirement of their faith that they do so. Click here. 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When requests are precluded by military necessity, commanders and supervisors should seek reasonable alternatives.. 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. 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. ~pkgEsHh,1%l|hJ But on July 18, the amn/nco/snco page posted a March 1 memo granting another Heathen airman, Staff Sgt. No Sikh American should have to choose between their religious beliefs and their career ambitions, said Giselle Klapper, Sikh Coalition Staff Attorney. (Staff Sgt. And in June, a Sikh airman received approval to wear a beard and turban. Her work has appeared in Air Force Magazine, Inside Defense, Inside Health Policy, the Frederick News-Post (Md. 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. The religious accommodation process is designed to accommodate individuals who can cite specific teachings, traditions, or texts that Air Force policies contradict. Abdul Rahman Gaitan became the first Muslim airman to receive a beard waiver for religious reasons. Its kind of a big thing, culturally.. Paragraph 1.5.2 changed to read: Submitting Requests for Religious, Gender , or Medical Waivers. It gradually worked its way up through the bureaucracy before ultimately being approved July 8 by Air Force personnel chief Lt. Gen. Brian Kelly. 4 0 obj W2~@R>tA);|6[ +XnDnQi\k`LF. The move came as a result of the Army authorizing beards for religious soldiers in January 2017 as part of the Religious Freedom Restoration Act, a move specifically enacted for Sikh soldiers. In 2018, Staff Sgt. Market-leading rankings and editorial commentary - see the top law firms & lawyers for Not-for-profit (nonprofit and tax exempt organizations) in United States According to an Air Force press . 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. It marks the sixth and counting religious waiver permitting a beard in service for the Air Force, according to the online military news conglomerate that broke the story. Accommodations, after all, arent about special treatment they are about ensuring that religiously observant Sikhs and others dont have to choose between staying true to our faith and serving our country.. Chief Bass comment demonstrates her commitment to changing the culture, and there seems to be some progress already. 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. The Air Force currently prohibits service members from growing beards unless they are granted a religious or medical waiver, a policy that has come under scrutiny lately after military. It must be free of designs or markings, except an airman wearing the Airman Battle Uniform or Operational Camouflage Pattern uniform can wear a matching camouflage hijab. The Air Force on Friday updated its regulations to formally allow airmen to ask for a waiver to wear religious apparel such as turbans or hijabs, or beards worn for religious reasons. The military branch . 3 0 obj Sopchak, a 28-year-old aerospace ground equipment craftsman at Hill Air Force Base in Utah, on July 8 received approval to get approval to wear a beard in accordance with his Heathen faith. Brown Jr. covered a broad range of topics with his additions to his Leadership Library in February. By entering your email and clicking Sign Up, you're agreeing to let us send you customized marketing messages about us and our advertising partners. The waivers remain in effect even when the airman is deployed or has a permanent change-of-station move, the Air Force said in the release. 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. This new study shows that changing beard regulations may actually be a need, rather than a want, because the current policy essentially discriminates against Black airmen. According to the regulation, turbans, hijabs, under-turbans or other headwear must be plain, dark blue, black, and free of designs or markings except when matching with the airman's camouflage uniform. Giselle Klapper, a Sikh Coalition staff attorney, said her group has long been seeking a blanket proclamation that all Sikh Americans who wear turbans and beards as part of their faith can serve in every branch of the military without seeking individual accommodations. Contact the author here. The Coalition said both changes were influenced by a years-long advocacy and litigation campaign by the Coalition and its pro bono co-counsel at McDermott Will & Emery. The Air Force is committed to continuing to remove barriers that prevent airmen from applying for, and being accepted into, career broadening opportunities, Bass said in a statement sent to Task & Purpose. Imagine the man-hours saved when men dont have to go to the doctor to get approved for a shaving waiver, and then periodically renewed., Daniel Walker, another Facebook user, added: They keep relaxing grooming standards instead of giving us things that would actually increase our quality of life.. Thousands of American Muslims and members of other minority faiths serve in our nations military and should be able to practice their faith while serving, CAIRs spokesperson Ibrahim Hooper said in a statement. Any links to regs would be appricated. Central figures in Norse mythology such as Odin and Thor are commonly depicted as wearing beards. The Quran, too, was used in a similar manner. The Air Force Times reports that applications for waivers can now be made by airmen who wish to wear religious apparel or are requesting exemptions from rules prohibiting beards and long hair. And. Those calls accelerated earlier this year, when the Air Force changed its regulations to allow for women to wear braids, ponytails and bangs in order to prevent irreversible hair loss and migraines stemming from the old hair regulations. And at least two airmen who follow the Norse Heathen, or pagan, faiths have been granted permission to wear a beard. The new study found that airmen with shaving waivers faced significantly longer wait times for promotions and were often barred from sought-after jobs such as Honor Guard, recruiting, military training instructors, or the Thunderbirds demonstration team. 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.. 1 comment. 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. Garrett Sopchak mythology, a collection of interesting stories but little more. The Air Force has granted several airmen permission to wear beards, turbans and the hijab for religious reasons in recent years. David covers the Air Force, Space Force and anything Star Wars-related. Airmen assigned to units wearing a beret of any color may wear an appropriately-colored head covering as directed by the unit commander, one sample memo explains. Do you have information you want to share with HuffPost? On Monday, Captain Toor and three other Sikhs sued the Marine Corps in U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia, saying the corps's refusal to grant a religious waiver is arbitrary and. The push to create a new Space National Guard got a major boost last week as a bipartisan team of Senators offered new legislationeven as the Pentagon works to craft details on a competing plan. I am grateful to hear of this policy change, because it codifies in writing what I already know: The U.S. Air Force values the service and contribution of religious minorities like me, Singh said in a statement provided by the group. I was willfully ignorant about the impact it was having on young Black men, he said. 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. The majority of the waiver group was Black (64.18%), despite that group making up only 12.85% of the cohort. (In heathen lore . Under the new guidelines . Now, updated Air Force regulations make clearer and smoother the path for personnel to request and obtain a similar religious waiver. (U.S. Air Force) Airmen will be allowed to wear up to. In December, Military.com reported that the Air Force Honor Guard changed its policy in April to allow airmen with shaving waivers to apply and join the guard. Based on the Air Force regulation, a disapproval should be based on real (not theoretical) compelling government interest (i.e. Staff Sgt. There's no more reliable source for news about your Air Force. Want to write for Task & Purpose? The United States military continues to bend its strict grooming rules to appease Muslims, most recently allowing an Air Force sergeant to sport a beard for religious reasons. The new findings build off a preliminary study published in December which said that shaving waivers had negatively affected the careers of many airmen, especially those of color. Singh was born in India and followed his father, an asylee, to the U.S. in 2012. The Air Force Times reports on Air Force SSgt Garrett Sopchak, who just became the first US Air Force Airman to be allowed to wear a beard because he adheres to Norse Heathen religious beliefs. When asked about specific efforts for removing the stigma regarding waivers, an Air Force spokesperson told Task & Purpose that the Air Force changed AFI 36-2903, its regulation governing dress and appearance standards., earlier this spring to allow airmen with a shaving profile to trim and shape their facial hair, and to allow airmen with profiles to apply for more positions in the service. The Air Force is first in many things, but in this case the branch came in second to the Army, which in 2017 became the first military branch to grant religious exemptions for beards, turbans. Chief of Space Operations Gen. B. I have an approved religious accommodation and have gotten pretty knowledgeable on the process. We speculate that these members, irrespective of race/ethnicity, may perceive this bias against shaving waivers and choose to leave the service earlier.. Shaving sharpens the edges of facial hair and makes the condition worse, the college said, and shaving less frequently or allowing the beard to grow helps. I cant tell you how many hundreds of times, probably thousands, that weve gotten [that] question. other similar condition s that prohibits regular facial shaving may requ est a waiver to wear a beard . Religious beards in the military were allowed in 2017. The NATO allies who allow their service members to grow beards also do not have studies showing the impact of facial hair on gas masks, Ritchie said. of the Air Force JoAnne Bass, wants to reduce the branchs cultural bias against shaving waivers granted for medical or religious reasons. 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. Asking questions is fine, but how is that even legal? We dont believe that theres a superior race, Sopchak said. I want to go all out with practing the religion (including reading the Quran like it is recommened during Ramadan. Sopchak, an aerospace ground equipment craftsman at Hill Air Force Base in Utah,said other airmen have been emailing him with questions about his faith. The Army last year granted its first beard authorization to a Norse pagan soldier. Still, it seems the Honor Guard has not completely embraced shaving waivers. Dec. 26, 2022. Beard hair longer than two inches must be rolled and/or tied to achieve the required length. If substantiated, then the benefits of the grooming standards, as defined in Air Force Instruction 36-2903, should be re-evaluated in the context of these findings, they wrote. | "They were well-respected. The advocacy group submitted a religious accommodation request for Singh in April 2019. ", By As described in sample memos included in the regulation, safety concerns might include wearing a gas mask or going within 25 feet of an operating aircraft. 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. Meanwhile, about 76.83% of the no-waiver group was White. The services often claim that facial hair interferes with the seal of a gas mask, but an Air Force doctor has found no direct scientific evidence to support that claim. However, given the most recent research; shaving waivers could play a role in racial disparity in terms of promotions. The demographics of the respondents closely match those of the Air Force in general, the study authors wrote. Under the new process, a commander has up to 30 days to approve an Airmans request for a waiver, and that the accommodation will generally follow the Airman through his or her career. The problem is how to convince the rest of the Air Force to follow suit. It interfaces with DAFPD 52-1, Chaplain Corps; Air Force Instruction (AFI) . Part of HuffPost Politics. Requests should normally be recommended for approval unless approval would have an adverse impact on military readiness, unit cohesion, standards, or discipline, the Air Force wrote. Ou5g(O5b5md8_ -+'.$Dvqx)YDTwXD`m_~G ArVT+`oo Those encounters, along with studies like the one published last year, convinced Wright to change his position. Tim Chacon/Air National Guard. Another example of neat and conservative is color. Islam & The First Religious Beard in The US Military (Air Force) The first person granted a beard waiver in the U.S. Airforce due to his faith was a Muslim soldier. In 2017, the U.S. Army officially updated its dress and appearance standards to accommodate hijabs, turbans and beards. Articles may contain affiliate links which enable us to share in the revenue of any purchases made. The Air Force has cited razor bumps in the past when making changes to its grooming policy. He has traveled to the Middle East to cover U.S. Air Force operations. Service spokesperson Ann Stefanek said the proposal is under discussion by the Black/African American Employment Strategy Team, but hasnt been approved. endobj What happens when patients disagree with an exemption decision? is at the same time the history o f the interpretation of the Scriptures.'18 The Sunna embodied an ossified tradition. Since then, 21 Honor Guard airmen now have a pass to grow neatly-trimmed beards, according to Military.com. *!+zu[XAoC_:X/0{ v8iAU}JqQ.u`6fE_GJTBh$Wx)Vpw#7~rDeI0r\!H(NW|/bcPRHBe0tEyXYD q{ The Air Force Surgeon General has approved five-year waivers allowing male airmen with a medical condition causing painful ingrown hairs to grow beards, the service said Tuesday. 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?. Currently serving Airmen and Guardians who sought exemptions from the Pentagon's COVID-19 vaccine mandate will see those actions reversed and records erased, a new memo from Secretary of the Air Force Frank Kendall states. Sounds like you might want to talk to your local chaplain team. The Sikh Coalition, an advocacy group that has pushed for changes to the Air Forces dress and appearance policy, commended the move. The Air Force in recent years has begun granting waivers to allow airmen including airmen of the Muslim, Sikh and Norse Heathen or pagan faiths to grow beards for religious reasons. I will also add, the whole reason I want a beard is to help me with my faith during Ramadan. 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.. Hijabs, turbans and under-turbans (also known as patkas) should be free of designs and made of a subdued material in a color that closely resembles ones uniform. David covers the Air Force, Space Force and anything Star Wars-related. Last year, Capt. >_fn7dw)>S#a\7]zdWwgsZMA2!2/af>]]I+ .$sMOr])0`F\>-vxX|K h%&ZG2xI%#}pxg@;%rE*q"TY(kfIeWgh&*$|- F'$_L2;&"bw.%i^XxzS\'Z+gQI,=b6)J|Se{Sl)xog`7^}T# N7 x+|B7 Previously, these airmen needed to get their waivers updated annually. Don't lie about your belief. The Air Force, citing privacy concerns, declined to identify how many airmen have obtained waivers based on religious exemptions but said the publicity surrounding approvals in recent years has . Others mused that more people would enlist if beards were allowed. Singh said that he believes the Air Forces policy update will make it easier for Sikh Americans to serve while maintaining their articles of faith. Sure, but how about competitive pay and benefits? While the study did not list an exact difference in promotion times between airmen with and without waivers, it did say with mathematical certainty that shaving waivers as a whole were associated with a significantly longer time to promotion compared to the no-waiver group.. 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. The Air Force is first in many things, but in this case the branch came in second to the Army, which in 2017 became the first military branch to grant religious exemptions for beards, turbans and hijabs. And if that airman is assigned to a unit that wears a beret of a particular color, the unit commander can order him to wear a turban of the same color. Last August, he went to his units chaplain an evangelical Christian who Sopchak said was very supportive and curious about his Heathen religion who helped him put together the paperwork for his religious accommodation request. They also make offerings anything from food to drinks to physical objects to their gods during a ceremony called a blot, he said. You will have a meeting with the Chaplain where they ask you questions to determine if you have a sincerely held belief that you shouldn't shave. Beard Religious Waivers in Air Force Norse Pagan, Sikh, Muslim and other Airmen have officially been granted religious waivers to wear beards.