The Department of the Air Force updated its religious accommodation request process in an effort to align with the Pentagon’s recent policy change to religious exemptions and grooming standards. (Zachary Hada/U.S. Air Force)
WASHINGTON — The Department of the Air Force updated its religious accommodation request process in an effort to align with the Pentagon’s recent policy change regarding religious exemptions and grooming standards.
The May 14 memo covers a range of topics, including requests to grow beards, to wear religious head coverings or to seek exemptions from immunizations. It also terminates the Religious Resolution Teams, while changing the application process and the involvement of military chaplains.
“This updated guidance ensures a critical balance between accommodating the sincerely held religious beliefs of our Airmen and Guardians and maintaining the rigorous safety and readiness standards required for operational superiority,” Richard Anderson, assistant secretary of the Air Force for Manpower and Reserve Affairs, said in a statement.
Religious Resolution Teams have been used to process, review and adjudicate religious accommodation requests. Unit commanders will now directly obtain chaplain, legal and subject-matter input to build their assessments without convening a formalized board, according to the statement.
Airmen and guardians need to have their previously approved religious accommodations for facial hair reevaluated under the DOD guidance or risk having those accommodations removed. The statement did not specify a timeline for reevaluation.
The decision authority for facial hair accommodations now falls under the offices of the Air Force Deputy Chief of Staff for Manpower, Personnel and Services and the Space Force Deputy Chief of Space Operations for Personnel.
The amended policy for the Air and Space Forces follows Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s March 11 memo that directed the military to standardize how religious accommodation requests are submitted, reviewed and approved, with an emphasis on consistency across the services.
Applicants must submit detailed documentation demonstrating the sincerity of their beliefs and how grooming requirements conflict with their religious practices.
Required materials include a sworn written statement affirming the belief, a description of the belief and its basis, an explanation of how shaving interferes with that belief and supporting evidence, such as statements from religious leaders.
Hegseth has consistently sought to tighten grooming standards. In September, he ordered an end to permanent medical shaving exemptions and signaled limits on religious waivers that have allowed some troops to wear beards in recent years.
At a gathering of senior military leaders that month in Quantico, Va., Hegseth criticized what he described as widespread abuse of shaving exemptions.
“No more beardos,” he said. “The era of rampant and ridiculous shaving profiles is done. Simply put, if you do not meet the male-level physical standards for combat positions, cannot pass a (physical training) test or don’t want to shave and look professional, it’s time for a new position or a new profession.”
