air force religious beard waiver

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?. Central figures in Norse mythology such as Odin and Thor are commonly depicted as wearing beards. PFB is a skin condition that makes shaving painful and can lead to permanent scarring if the skin is not allowed to heal, which makes it a common reason for receiving a shaving waiver. 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. For those wondering, the regulation says that a mustache worn with a beard may extend sideways beyond the corners of the mouth to connect with the beard, but must be trimmed or groomed to not cover the upper lip.. Accommodation of Religious Practices in the Air Force. Previously, the only exceptions for active-duty personnel were medical waivers. However, given the most recent research; shaving waivers could play a role in racial disparity in terms of promotions. 173rd Fighter Wing Airmen may begin taking advantage of new uniform regulations allowing religious exemptions such as beards, hijabs, and turbans while in uniform. The real challenge is how do you change the culture, not just in the Air Force but in the services period.. The new AFI formally allows requests for waivers, and for neat and conservative beards that present a professional appearance. 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. 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. He hopes to become a Gothi essentially an ordained priest and perhaps become an official Air Force chaplain. 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 . He joined Task & Purpose in 2019, after covering local news in Maine and FDA policy in Washington D.C. David loves hearing the stories of individual airmen and their families and sharing the human side of Americas most tech-heavy military branch. There are conflicting published reports from the civilian sector with regard to the impact of facial hair on P2/N95 [face masks] fit testing, and none that we are aware of evaluating facial hair impact on military gas mask fit. the authors wrote. 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. 4 0 obj Hopper,. The Air Force on Friday became the second branch of the U.S. military to approve the wearing of beards, turbans, hijabs, under-turbans/patkas, unshorn hair and other indoor/outdoor head coverings for religious reasons. . Isnt the whole point of Religious Freedom that people CANT question your religious beliefs?? This causes inflammation and a foreign body reaction, and over time, can result in scarring. 1 0 obj 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. Another example of neat and conservative is color. Still, she called the policy clarification a great step forward.. Still, it seems the Honor Guard has not completely embraced shaving waivers. 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.. 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. 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. For nearly a year, the Air Force weighed a staff sergeant's request to grow a beard as part of his religious beliefs before granting him a waiver, a decision that balanced personal liberty against military readiness, a Pentagon spokesman said. All are welcome. 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. 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. 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. In 2017, the U.S. Army officially updated its dress and appearance standards to accommodate hijabs, turbans and beards. Registration on or use of this site constitutes acceptance of our Terms of Service. For a long time, the old Norse mythology of Odin, Thor and Ragnark was just that for Staff Sgt. He previously covered leadership and personnel issues at Air Force Times, and the Pentagon, special operations and air warfare at Military.com. There is no potential timeline for approval, because it isnt even at that stage, she said. The Army granted a similar waiver last year, and beard exemptions have been granted for a growing number of Sikhs and Muslims . The 2021 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. Sopchak said he was originally raised Baptist, but has not been a Christian for a long time. It is unclear how many Norse pagans, Heathen, or Asatru followers are in the military, but they have become increasingly visible in recent years. Articles may contain affiliate links which enable us to share in the revenue of any purchases made. Get the latest in military news, entertainment and gear in your inbox daily. Airmen in need of a waiver could try laser hair removal or chemical treatment, but many airmen are reluctant to undertake them because it could permanently alter their ability to grow facial hair, the study authors wrote. The conventional view of facial hair is that it looks unprofessional in uniform. 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. Its kind of a big thing, culturally.. 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. 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. He has traveled to the Middle East to cover U.S. Air Force operations. For example, hijabs must be closely fitted to the contours of the airman's head and neck, tucked under the uniform top, and cannot cover the airman's eyebrows, eyes, cheeks, nose, mouth or chin. Because its a faith that hasnt been practiced in about 1,000 years, he said, theres no set way to practice it. 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. Powered by GoDaddy This website uses cookies. The waiver group also had a greater rate of disciplinary action compared to the no-waiver group (18.96% versus 11.45%). 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. 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. One civilian study from 2018 showed that 98% of study participants with an eighth-inch of beard passed the fit test with respirators that are similar to the M-50 gas masks used in the military in terms of material and fit. And in February, the Air Force officially updated its regulations to formally allow airmen to request religious beard waivers. Tell me youre an A1C without telling me youre an A1C. 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. He joined Task & Purpose in 2019, after covering local news in Maine and FDA policy in Washington D.C. David loves hearing the stories of individual airmen and their families and sharing the human side of Americas most tech-heavy military branch. The majority of the waiver group was Black (64.18%), despite that group making up only 12.85% of the cohort. David Roza The Supreme Court today upheld Indian Air Force's denial of permission to two Muslim personnel to grow beard, holding that the two orders were in compliance with Regulation 425(b) which . If they didnt have one, in some of the stories, they were actually ridiculed. 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 One Facebook commenter questioned why the Air Force needs a separate pilot program when it could study those who already have shaving waivers. Contact the author here. 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. Something about what he found resonated, and Sopchak became a Norse Heathen. Directly before me was one of the mirrors I have mentioned, in which I saw reflected the tall shape of my friend, Mr. Jennings, leaning over my shoulder, and reading the page at which I was busy, and with a face so dark and wild that I . Heres how. 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. Get the latest in military news, entertainment and gear in your inbox daily. 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 . That matches the length allowed for people who are medically exempt from the requirement to be clean-shaven. I can answer the questions, so it is not really a problem but how is that even legal? Abdul Rahman Gaitan in 2018 became the first Muslim airman to receive a beard waiver for religious reasons. David covers the Air Force, Space Force and anything Star Wars-related. In the event of a chemical, biological, radiological, nuclear or explosive threat, commanding officers could also ask someone wearing a hijab to remove it to ensure a proper gas mask fit. 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. For military members, exemptions must also be documented in readiness systems (Navy/Marine Corps/Coast Guard Medical Readiness Reporting System, Army Medical Protection System, or Air Force Aeromedical Services Information Management System). The interviewing chaplain will then send the wing chaplain a memo on whether the airman has a sincerely-held belief, whether the accommodation is related to that belief, and how the Air Force policy places a burden on that belief. This article has been updated to reflect the fact that another Norse Heathen airman, Staff Sgt. But so far, the call for beards seems to fall on deaf ears. Sample accommodation request memos included with the regulation said that the Air Force can order an airman to immediately shave or remove their turban or hijab if they need to be ready to wear a gas mask during an emergency. 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. Staff Sgt. Turbans and under-turbans have similar color and material requirements as the hijab. 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 DAF will remove adverse information from records of those currently serving service members who sought. Abdul Rahman Gaitan, 821st Contingency Response Squadron aerial porter, was among the first to be granted a religious accommodation for a shaving waiver based . I had opportunities to hire all kinds of folks and I was adamant about not hiring somebody with a shaving waiver, just because I fell into that category of this is Air Force policy, its not professional, 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. The Sikh Coalition said the Air Force regulation closely resembles the Army's. The hot towels help stimulate the skin to bring out any oils and sweat that can be used for a lubrication layer between the skin and the razor. The study would require only 100 to 150 service members, he said. The Brig. The U.S. Air Force granted its first religious waivers to the military-wide COVID-19 vaccine mandate this week. Despite being in line with regulations, airmen with waivers reported feeling stigmatized for wearing facial hair. Later, every religious trend sought and found the hadiths that justified its principles. Beards should have been approved years ago, Facebook commenter Heather Britten wrote. Maysaa Ouza, the first Air Force Judge Advocate General Corps officer to wear the hijab, was also featured in a short NBC documentary last year. 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. Singh was born in India and followed his father, an asylee, to the U.S. in 2012. Contact the author here. He has traveled to the Middle East to cover U.S. Air Force operations. 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. According to an Air Force press . Comer wore a beard with a religious accommodation waiver, but beards in the Air Force may become far more common after a uniform board considers facial hair in November. Religious beards in the military were allowed in 2017. 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 beards are central to their observance, like Sikhs, Jews, Muslims and Norse Heathens. 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. In addition to believing in the old Norse gods, he said, Heathens believe that they are descended from them. 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.. Beards can also be seen as symbols of power, strength, and virility. This is the first time the command has done so. 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. Articles may contain affiliate links which enable us to share in the revenue of any purchases made. The study, which was published in July 2021, pointed out that many of the airmen who apply for medical shaving waivers are Black, because Black men are more likely to be affected by pseudofolliculitis barbae (PFB) commonly referred to as razor bumps than White men. That assessment, and ability to address and adjust, is critical to our force, and our people. 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. It was approved in September, which means Singh will soon head to basic training. The updated Air Force Instruction, released Feb. 7, also formally allows Sikh airmen to wear turbans and Muslim women to wear hijabs. This condition can appear in a person of any ethnicity but is predominantly seen in Blacks/African Americans, study authors wrote. Shaving Waiver stigma Air Force Medicine medical beard Al Dhafra . The study authors found that the long wait for promotions applied to airmen of all races who had waivers. Registration on or use of this site constitutes acceptance of our Terms of Service. purifying respirators and controlled air purifying respirators or beard-bands: 3. work just as well as N95s, but may cost more, and thus may be found to impose . Eugene Oliver/U.S. Isnt the whole point of religious freedom that people CANT do that? The airmans unit commander would then decide whether to endorse the request. Below are current coronavirus disease 2019 statistics for Department of Air Force personnel: *These numbers include all of the cases that were reported since our last update on Jan. 18. 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. 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. Hopper,. (U.S. Army photo by Sgt. In such cases, an airman's command could order an immediate removal of the turban, hijab or facial hair (although it's not clear how much time an airman would have to shave).