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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. US Air Force photo by Airman 1st Class Jackson Manske. 3 0 obj Her work has appeared in Air Force Magazine, Inside Defense, Inside Health Policy, the Frederick News-Post (Md. | He also hopes to grow the Heathen community in the area around Hill. Correction: This story was updated at 6:53 p.m. to reflect correct information about religious waivers for beards. William Bailey, a beard waiver. 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. Beards cant exceed two inches if they do, they must be rolled and/or tied to achieve the required length, the regulations state. Do you have information you want to share with HuffPost? The Air Force has updated its grooming standards to formally allow Airmen to grow neatly trimmed beards, standardizing the religious or medical exemption process. Those encounters, along with studies like the one published last year, convinced Wright to change his position. The updated regulation said beards must be no longer than two inches when measured from the bottom of the chin, and must be rolled and/or tied when longer than two inches. 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. 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. 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. They also make offerings anything from food to drinks to physical objects to their gods during a ceremony called a blot, he said. [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. 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.. | 7Ndj% 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. 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. Something about what he found resonated, and Sopchak became a Norse Heathen. 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. Airmen who need to grow out their facial hair in uniform can take heart that the top enlisted airman, Chief Master Sgt. 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 . 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. Air Force updates its dress code policy to include turbans - CNN The study authors found that the long wait for promotions applied to airmen of all races who had waivers. 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. The updated Air Force Instruction, released Feb. 7, also formally allows Sikh airmen to wear turbans and Muslim women to wear hijabs. What happens when patients disagree with an exemption decision? 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. 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. 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. of the Air Force JoAnne Bass, wants to reduce the branchs cultural bias against shaving waivers granted for medical or religious reasons. Meet this Norse Heathen airman approved to grow a beard in the Air Force 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. Beards should have been approved years ago, Facebook commenter Heather Britten wrote. Paragraph 1.5.2.3 added: Members requesting a medical waiver to wear a beard must submit a letter PDF Commander's discretion may be used to determine if individual's personal Brown Jr. covered a broad range of topics with his additions to his Leadership Library in February. Maysaa Ouza became the first Air Force Judge Advocate General Corps officer to wear hijab. He has traveled to the Middle East to cover U.S. Air Force operations. You are also agreeing to our Terms of Service and Privacy Policy. But on July 18, the amn/nco/snco page posted a March 1 memo granting another Heathen airman, Staff Sgt. 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?. The last sentence indicates that Air Force senior leadership wants to be in sync with other services on major changes in facial hair policy. NORSKK - Everything you need to know to get a religious | Facebook The problem is how to convince the rest of the Air Force to follow suit. of the Air Force Kaleth Wright, said in April on a panel discussion on male grooming standards in the Air Force. thx. 3.1.2.3.1. Do you have information you want to share with HuffPost. <>>> David covers the Air Force, Space Force and anything Star Wars-related. 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. | I cant tell you how many hundreds of times, probably thousands, that weve gotten [that] question. Air Force Officially OKs Beards, Turbans, Hijabs for Religious Reasons . Registration on or use of this site constitutes acceptance of our Terms of Service. That study, which involved 798 airmen responding to emailed surveys, called for more research and data on the subject. In 2020, the department extended shaving waivers for those diagnosed with razor bumps from one year to five years. <> 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.. 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. If you saw a man that had a beard, you could almost guarantee that they were a good person, that you could go to them for help," Sopchak said. 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. 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. 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. Airmens facial hair also cannot interfere with the wear of personal protective equipment such as gas masks, the Air Force said, and airmen must be able to continue to perform their duties. In 2018, Staff Sgt. t7be,2/gQ u7|O;(?lKHfm'*g' I{C A highly visible sign of changing Air Force policy may soon be evident here at Kingsley Field, in Klamath Falls, Oregon. 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. Asking questions is fine, but how is that even legal? The waiver group also had a greater rate of disciplinary action compared to the no-waiver group (18.96% versus 11.45%). 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. There are many religious reasons why people might choose to grow a beard. 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. Any links to regs would be appricated. 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. stream "Sikhs are allowed to wear beards and turbans because it actually is a religious requirement of their faith that they do so. Sopchak said in a Tuesday interview that in the old sagas, a beard was a sign someone was a respected member of the community who could be trusted to help others. 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. 1 0 obj Its unclear how many people currently use shaving waivers. Press question mark to learn the rest of the keyboard shortcuts. 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. Airman raises his head as flight surgeon chief of medical staff inspects his neck and face during a shaving waiver course at Beale Air Force Base, Calif., March 15, 2018. Turbans and under-turbans have similar color and material requirements as the hijab. Abdul Rahman Gaitan became the first Muslim airman to receive a religious accommodation beard waiver. W2~@R>tA);|6[ +XnDnQi\k`LF. This new study looked at a much larger share of data and involved 9,339 valid responses. 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. It is a sincerely held belief, but I have not been a Muslim for long, only a couple weeks. 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.