He also consulted with The Asatru Community, a nonprofit group that advocates for followers of Norse pagan religions. | In 2018, Staff Sgt. 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. Staff Sgt. Here are some active soldiers who have been allowed to keep their facial hair. Still, she called the policy clarification a great step forward.. 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. Religious Freedom andBeards : AirForce - reddit.com SC: IAF can tell airmen not to sport beard : The Tribune India 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. This is the first time the command has done so. 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. 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.. DAF COVID-19 Statistics - January 2022 - Air Force are divided over that study showing beard waivers hurt careers. OpJAGAF 2019-9, 21 March 2019, Religious Accommodation Request-Norse 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. At first, it appeared Sopchak was the first Heathen to get a beard waiver. He has traveled to the Middle East to cover U.S. Air Force operations. . A California-based airman has become the first Muslim airman to receive a beard waiver after a 2014 policy. When requests are precluded by military necessity, commanders and supervisors should seek reasonable alternatives.. 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 . 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. 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. Subscribe to Task & Purpose Today. Number of religious accommodations, including beards, likely to grow in 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. Air Force reverses 'adverse actions' against airmen who sought vaccine 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.