Kanwar Singh prays before his commissioning ceremony aboard the USS Constitution in this undated photo. The Navy issued new guidance this week requiring sailors with religious accommodations for facial hair to reapply within 10 days and undergo reevaluation. (Joe Lacdan/U.S. Army)
Active-duty and reserve sailors who are permitted to forgo shaving on religious grounds must soon tell their commands they will reapply for the grooming standards waiver, the Navy said this week.
They also will have to undergo a reevaluation of their shaving waivers, which includes explaining their religious beliefs, practices and commitment to those beliefs to a chaplain, according to a Navy administrative message published Wednesday. They also will have to detail how those beliefs are “burdened” by the service’s grooming requirements.
Sailors with existing or pending waivers have 10 business days to let their commands know they will file an updated request, according to the message. It wasn’t clear in the message how soon that request needed to be submitted.
But the reevaluation process for sailors with approved waivers is expected to be completed within 30 days of filing the updated request, the Navy said.
“Commanding officers must objectively weigh the fundamental value of accommodating religious practices against the compelling, life-or-death interest of maintaining an absolute protective posture and ensuring the operational viability of our Fleet,” the message said.
Now-Lance Cpl. Jaskirat Singh made history as the first Sikh Marine to complete recruit training while maintaining his articles of faith. He graduated from the Marine Corps Recruit Depot in San Diego on Aug. 11, 2023. This week, the Navy issued new guidelines requiring sailors who have religious accommodations for facial hair to reapply within 10 days and undergo reevaluation. (Jesse Lora/U.S. Marine Corps)
It added that already approved religious accommodations related to grooming standards for facial hair must be reevaluated “using standardized procedures that ensure consistent, lawful, and equitable outcomes.”
The message also outlined policies and procedures for religious exceptions to the Navy’s facial hair grooming standards, which generally require that sailors be clean-shaven but allow mustaches and sideburns that meet specific criteria.
Wednesday’s policy rollout follows a similar announcement by the Army last month, both of which fall in line with a broader Pentagon crackdown on grooming standards.
In a September memo, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth banned permanent medical shaving exemptions such as those for service members who have a painful skin condition called pseudofolliculitis barbae, or razor bumps.
The memo also ended most of the same exemptions based on religious grounds, saying service members who had been granted such waivers would face individual review and be required to document the sincerity of their beliefs.
It’s unclear how many Navy sailors may be affected by the shaving waiver reevaluation.
Last year, the service granted 313 religious accommodations, which in addition to facial hair could include head coverings, dietary needs, clothing, immunizations or other religious requirements. Nine other accommodation requests that same year were rejected, according to the Navy.
As of early February, 22 religious waivers had been granted and none rejected this year.
Once approved, the accommodations are enduring, meaning they follow the sailor from command to command with limited exceptions such as a change in circumstance in the interest of the government, according to the Navy.
It’s also uncertain how the policy change will affect at least two legal challenges to Navy grooming standards related to religious accommodations.
One of those cases involves the religious accommodation request of a Sikh Marine related to his post-recruit training service, including restrictions on where he could deploy while maintaining an unshaven beard.
In a June 4 federal court filing, attorneys representing Lance Cpl. Jaskirat Singh along with those for the U.S. military, said they needed more time to review upcoming Navy policy updates related to religious accommodations and any potential impacts on the Marine before proceeding with settlement negotiations.
The attorneys agreed to submit an update within 45 days, according to court records.
In 2023, Singh graduated from boot camp following an appellate court ruling requiring the Marine Corps to allow him to attend the training without shaving his beard or cutting his hair.
