The Pentagon has approved a new policy that will allow troops to wear turbans and other religious clothing and engage in religious observances.
Until now there has been no set policy in the military to allow accommodations for religion.
Soldiers must apply for a waiver to be able to wear their religious garment or engage in a specific religious activity, which the military says they will take on a case-by-case basis.
The Pentagon has approved a new policy that will allow troops to seek waivers to wear religious clothing, seek prayer time or engage in religious practices.Defense officials say the waivers will be decided on a case-by-case basis and will depend on where the service member is stationed and whether the change would affect military readiness or the mission.
Until now there has been no consistent policy across the military to allow accommodations for religion. Now, for example, Jewish troops can seek a waiver to wear a yarmulke, or Sikhs can seek waivers to wear a turban and grow a beard.
Others can request specific prayer times or ask that they be allowed to carry prayer beads or other items.
The policy also says that service members can choose not to recognize any religion, according to NBC News.
According to Defense Department statistics obtained by NBC, there are only three Sikh Americans in the military. There are about 3,700 Muslims. 6,300 Buddhists, and 1,500 Wiccans.
The directive stresses that “the importance of uniformity and adhering to standards, of putting unit before self, is more significant and needs to be carefully evaluated when considering each request for accommodation,” according to NBC.
That is OUTRAGEOUS!!
As long as they aren’t Christians, apparently.
THATS BULL$#%&!@*!!!!
What Kinda C**p Is This?? Christians can’t have Bibles’ But A ok for everyone else.. Why not have separate divisions??
This is just plain WRONG!! The purpose of the uniform is to create unity amongst the troops! Thats why schools have uniforms, it’s why there are regulations for length of hair and mustaches and placement of medals and ribbons!! Religion should not detract from military unity by setting some apart!!
WTF next the Guys will be able to wear dresses and makeup!!
Garbage! There’s a reason why we wear uniforms, and are clean cut
if blacks can do a profile,not shave due to facial hair infection,,,why not let the terrorists muslim take over,,no one is stopping them,,,hello,,,these polls are stupid and it is the same thing,next day and people keep answering them,,,,IDEA,,,,how about a poll on how many people will NOT vote this November for another $#%&!@* in congress?? all they do is talk lie and steal $$$ ,they don’t earn their money
wtf we have opened a pandoras box.
I just can not believe what this country (government) will do next – when I was in the service – we went by the “book” and we did just fine – our military (pentagon) seems to be going down the sewer!