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. stream 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 also specifically looked at the time it took airmen with shaving waivers to get promoted relative to airmen without waivers, and whether that association led to racial bias. It gradually worked its way up through the bureaucracy before ultimately being approved July 8 by Air Force personnel chief Lt. Gen. Brian Kelly. ak cGeoI0_enzM8_#.Skvv1Nx72!oaBV >q@yN;NG.s;9>/B32:*I=u/x|=3;.m1.DWc(P(mZ XZ The updated policy requires religious apparel to be neat and conservative and not impede an individuals ability to perform assigned military duties or wear protective equipment. A chaplain must then interview the requesting airman and submit a recommendation to the wing chaplain (or the unit's equivalent of a wing chaplain). 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. The Quran, too, was used in a similar manner. 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. Air Force Global Strike Command is launching a new study of cancer risks among Airmen and Guardians who worked near intercontinental ballistic missiles and is developing new resources for current and former service members and their families. 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 . 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. 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. 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. 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. 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 endobj 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. We dont have to hire RAND or Booz Allen Hamilton to do it, but the Air Force needs to want it to happen, he said at the time. They also make offerings anything from food to drinks to physical objects to their gods during a ceremony called a blot, he said. %PDF-1.5 Staff Sgt. In 2018, Staff Sgt. In addition to promoting one's own well-being and four pillars, respecting others whose viewpoints differ from them is expected from the total force. 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. This causes inflammation and a foreign body reaction, and over time, can result in scarring. Heres how. 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. The idea would let participating airmen sport well-kept beards no longer than one-quarter inch, Military.com first reported Monday. 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. Still, Ritchie called for a study to come up with a conclusive answer. He has traveled to the Middle East to cover U.S. Air Force operations. Its kind of a big thing, culturally.. 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 . Based on the Air Force regulation, a disapproval should be based on real (not theoretical) compelling government interest (i.e. 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. 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. 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. 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 . Thanks for attaching this, it seems like a simple enough process to get the accommodation. The religious accommodation process is designed to accommodate individuals who can cite specific teachings, traditions, or texts that Air Force policies contradict. Powered by GoDaddy This website uses cookies. The Air Force separated 610 Airmen for declining the once-mandated COVID-19 vaccination. Despite being in line with regulations, airmen with waivers reported feeling stigmatized for wearing facial hair. Beard Religious Waivers in Air Force Norse Pagan, Sikh, Muslim and other Airmen have officially been granted religious waivers to wear beards. W2~@R>tA);|6[ +XnDnQi\k`LF. 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.. 1 0 obj "Sikhs are allowed to wear beards and turbans because it actually is a religious requirement of their faith that they do so. Subscribe to Task & Purpose Today. Wing commanders or other leaders at major commands, numbered air forces or other organizations will then approve or deny such a request. 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. Staff Sgt. The U. S. Air Force has published new guidance for religious accommodations that allow airmen to wear beards, turbans and hijabs. He previously covered leadership and personnel issues at Air Force Times, and the Pentagon, special operations and air warfare at Military.com. The Air Force has granted several airmen permission to wear beards, turbans and the hijab for religious reasons in recent years. 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. Press J to jump to the feed. Given the racial distribution of waivers, this may have an unintended discriminatory effect by limiting the opportunities that these members are offered, the study authors wrote. Meanwhile, about 76.83% of the no-waiver group was White. Dress and Personal Appearance of Air Force Personnel, Airman 1st Class Harpreetinder Singh Bajwa. 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. Stephen Losey is the air warfare reporter for Defense News. | Eugene Oliver/U.S. And in June, a Sikh airman received approval to wear a beard and turban. 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. Sens. For ANG In 2017, the U.S. Army officially updated its dress and appearance standards to accommodate hijabs, turbans and beards. According to the updated regulation, Dress and Personal Appearance of Air Force Personnel, the Air Force allows all such apparel and beards as long as the airmen wearing them make it through a religious accommodation waiver process, that they appear neat and conservative, and that the apparel and beards don't interfere with personal safety. 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. Click here. Still, it seems the Honor Guard has not completely embraced shaving waivers. Articles may contain affiliate links which enable us to share in the revenue of any purchases made. Sopchak said that something about the Heathen religion felt more real to him. He hopes to become a Gothi essentially an ordained priest and perhaps become an official Air Force chaplain. endobj Black men disproportionately suffer from the ingrown hairs that cause painful razor bumps, either precluding them from shaving more regularly or forcing them to suffer and, in some cases, endure scarring. But so far, the call for beards seems to fall on deaf ears. 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. Theres a lot of comparables where Hey if females and women in the military just got their hair changed, how about beards? said Chief Master Sergeant of the Air Force JoAnne Bass in April. 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. Singh wanted to serve in the U.S. military to defend the country that had taken his family in, according to the Sikh Coalition. During tours of less than 30 days, A ir 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 an Air Force press . Last year, Capt. <>>> The airmans unit commander would then decide whether to endorse the request. Registration on or use of this site constitutes acceptance of our Terms of Service. 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. In addition to believing in the old Norse gods, he said, Heathens believe that they are descended from them. +BEeB5JiTx The comment, which was also shared on the popular Facebook page Air Force amn/nco/snco, was made in response to a selfie she posted of herself alongside Secretary of the Air Force Frank Kendall and Airman 1st Class Kyle Voss-McReynolds, who was the leadership teams driver during a recent event and who also wears a beard in uniform. What happens when patients disagree with an exemption decision? <> Friday's regulation formalizes such waivers into a multi-step review process. The real challenge is how do you change the culture, not just in the Air Force but in the services period.. 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. Garrett Sopchak, a 28-year-old aerospace . Start with the chaplain, and work with them to route the request through your chain. I was willfully ignorant about the impact it was having on young Black men, he said. Seven months later, this reporter could not immediately find any such progress reports. ", By Abdul Rahman Gaitan became the first Muslim airman to receive a religious accommodation beard waiver. 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. This is the first time the command has done so. 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. 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. "There is no religious requirement for beards in Heathenry," the post read. 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. 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. 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. Brown Jr. covered a broad range of topics with his additions to his Leadership Library in February. endobj Though. Any recommendations made by the board would then have to be approved by Air Force senior leadership, a service spokesperson told Coffee or Die at the time. x\[o~d/Sp|A|=hdDPwfvIQuDgg?ydtx.b`1K55'V#wLDP,(Wj Abdul Rahman Gaitan in 2018 became the first Muslim. Chief Bass comment demonstrates her commitment to changing the culture, and there seems to be some progress already. The research studied the effect of shaving waivers on the careers of active duty male airmen. 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. Staff Sgt. We dont believe that theres a superior race, Sopchak said. If youre willing to learn, we are willing to teach.. Airmen in the guard with waivers can wear beards in Air Force ceremonies and duties, but not as part of a joint service honor guard with another branch, Military.com reported. He has traveled to the Middle East to cover U.S. Air Force operations. The memo said he can grow a longer beard if he rolls or ties it, but Sopchak said hell likely keep it within two inches to stay safe on the job and keep it simple. Beards could be two months away in the Air Force. 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. Previously, these airmen needed to get their waivers updated annually. I want to go all out with practing the religion (including reading the Quran like it is recommened during Ramadan. Her work has appeared in Air Force Magazine, Inside Defense, Inside Health Policy, the Frederick News-Post (Md. 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. 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 2020, the department extended shaving waivers for those diagnosed with razor bumps from one year to five years. thx. However, given the most recent research; shaving waivers could play a role in racial disparity in terms of promotions. Its an unsubstantiated claim, dermatologist Lt. Col. Simon Ritchie told Task & Purpose in May. 2 0 obj Hopper,. The DAF will remove adverse information from records of those currently serving service members who sought. The regulation follows years of individual airmen and other service members receiving waivers for religious beards and apparel. There could be more studies of this topic to come. 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. Save Page Now. Contact the author here. Maysaa Ouza became the first Air Force Judge Advocate General Corps officer to wear hijab. 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. 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. 8[/6&ip1~E5\h|#_W7AO2#+S_*wQ2I1jg!zx 6FTUqepk9v i*z]D@s;3c~52YJSR04P_dZgLA-Xh YWX,&"qp6bY ?HD]SL%d9n4%;uwR"d"4X David Roza Published Dec 21, 2022 5:12 PM EST. The military branch said it will remove "adverse information" from the records of those who sought an exemption on "religious, administrative, or medical grounds and who received adverse actions solely due to their . This condition can appear in a person of any ethnicity but is predominantly seen in Blacks/African Americans, study authors wrote. Chapter IV - Four Eyes Were Reading the Passage I was running the head of my pencil-case along the line as I read it, and something caused me to raise my eyes. When requests are precluded by military necessity, commanders and supervisors should seek reasonable alternatives.. Central figures in Norse mythology such as Odin and Thor are commonly depicted as wearing beards. Want to write for Task & Purpose? [T]he promotion system is not necessarily inherently racially biased, but instead biased against the presence of facial hair which will likely always affect the promotions of Blacks/African-Americans disproportionately because of the relatively higher need for shaving waivers in this population, wrote the authors of the study, a team of eight led by Air Force Lt. Col. Simon Ritchie. Singh was born in India and followed his father, an asylee, to the U.S. in 2012. William Bailey, received a waiver to grow a beard in March. 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. Any links to regs would be appricated. DAF COVID-19 Statistics - January 2022. 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. Does anyone have any information on how you actually get a religious exemption for shaving? Based on the successful examples of Soldiers currently serving with these accommodations, I have determined Copyright 2023. <>/ExtGState<>/XObject<>/ProcSet[/PDF/Text/ImageB/ImageC/ImageI] >>/Annots[ 13 0 R 16 0 R] /MediaBox[ 0 0 612 792] /Contents 4 0 R/Group<>/Tabs/S/StructParents 0>> 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. 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. Religious exemptions to the rule allow for beards up to 2 inches long. Many airmen on social media called for abandoning the beard prohibition altogether. 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. Airmen who need to grow out their facial hair in uniform can take heart that the top enlisted airman, Chief Master Sgt. Stephen Losey is the air warfare reporter for Defense News. In the words of the Hungarian scholar Goldziher, 'The history of religion . This new study looked at a much larger share of data and involved 9,339 valid responses. Asking questions is fine, but how is that even legal? 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. Because its a faith that hasnt been practiced in about 1,000 years, he said, theres no set way to practice it. The Air Forces updated policy sets new grooming and uniform standards for members who wear turbans, hijabs and beards for religious reasons. And in June, a Sikh airman received approval to wear a beard and turban. 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. 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. &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 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.. 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. We recommend further study of gas mask and respirator fit testing with facial hair in the military population to clarify this.. Registration on or use of this site constitutes acceptance of our Terms of Service. 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. 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. t7be,2/gQ u7|O;(?lKHfm'*g' I{C There currently is no clear evidence showing that is the case, the study said. For some pagans, it is seen as a way of honoring the gods and goddesses. In December, the Air Force commissioned its first female Muslim chaplain . Do you have information you want to share with HuffPost. 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. The same was true for airmen trying to hit the rank of staff sergeant (E-5). It is is up to the wing commander (or the unit's equivalent of such a commander) to make the final decision. The Army last year granted its first beard authorization to a Norse pagan soldier. 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. Sopchak said he was originally raised Baptist, but has not been a Christian for a long time. DAFI52-201 23 JUNE 2021 5 Written request for accommodation received by David covers the Air Force, Space Force and anything Star Wars-related.
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