U.S. Army Eases Rules On Beards, Turbans For Muslim, Sikh Troops

U.S. Army Eases Rules On Beards, Turbans For Muslim, Sikh Troops

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The U.S. Army has taken new steps to make it easier for Sikhs, Muslims and other religious minorities to obtain approval to dress and groom themselves according to their religious customs while serving in the military, a spokesman said on Thursday.

Army Secretary Eric Fanning, in a memorandum signed this week, revised the uniform policy to set appearance standards for people seeking religious accommodations to wear beards, turbans and head scarfs.

The new rules also enable brigade-level commanders to approve the religious accommodations, an authority that previously rested with the Army secretary. Denial of a religious accommodation may be appealed as high as the Army secretary.

An approved religious accommodation will continue throughout the soldier’s career and may not be revoked or modified without approval of the Army secretary, the memo says. The accommodation will not affect job specialties or duty locations, except in a few limited cases, the memo says.

“Our goal is to balance soldier readiness and safety with the accommodation of our soldiers’ faith practices, and this latest directive allows us to do that,” Lieutenant Colonel Randy Taylor said in a statement.

The new rules were welcomed by the Sikh Coalition.

“We are pleased with the progress that this new policy represents for religious tolerance and diversity,” said coalition Legal Director Harsimran Kaur.

Sikhs have a long tradition of military service in India and elsewhere and have served in the United States as far back as World War One. But uniform reforms after the Vietnam War made it difficult for them to serve without violating the tenets of their faith.

The new rules permit religious accommodations for beards, but they may not be longer than 2 inches unless rolled or tied up. Soldiers with a religious accommodation may wear a turban or under-turban known as a patka.

Soldiers with religious accommodations still must be able to wear combat helmets and other protective headgear and must modify their hairstyles to achieve a proper fit.

The new rules allow head scarfs, or hijabs, for Muslim women. They must be of a similar color to the uniform and be free of designs or markings, unless they are camouflage and worn with a camouflage uniform.

Hair grooming rules have been amended to allow for braids, cornrows, twists or locks, the memo said.

(Reporting by David Alexander; Editing by Lisa Von Ahn)

IMAGE: U.S. troops participate in Latvia’s Independence Day military parade in Riga, Latvia, November 18, 2015. REUTERS/Ints Kalnins

RNC’s Spicer Tapped For Trump’s White House Spokesman

RNC’s Spicer Tapped For Trump’s White House Spokesman

WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The Republican National Committee spokesman Sean Spicer will serve as U.S. President-elect Donald Trump’s press secretary in the White House when he takes office next month, Trump announced on Thursday.

To round out his communications team, the president-elect appointed loyalists from his upstart presidential campaign. Hope Hicks, Trump’s sole spokeswoman when he began what was considered a longshot candidacy in June 2015, will be director of strategic communications.

Jason Miller was appointed director of communications and Dan Scavino was named director of social media.

Spicer, 45, served as RNC spokesman during Trump’s presidential campaign, alongside party chairman Reince Priebus, who stood by Trump amid furious opposition from establishment Republicans and was rewarded with the chief of staff position.

Acerbic and professional, Spicer, a Navy Reserve commander, has been openly critical of media coverage of Republican candidates and the president-elect, but insists the future U.S. leader has a high regard for press freedom.

“We understand and respect the role that the press plays in a democracy. It is healthy, it’s important. But it’s a two-way street,” Spicer told Politico recently, before bashing the news outlet for what he said was exclusively negative coverage.

Spicer, who has been a spokesman for the Trump transition team, has a long background in public affairs.

He led a turnaround in the RNC’s public affairs operation after taking over as communications director in 2011. He beefed up social media operations, built an in-house TV production team and created a rapid response effort to reply to attacks.

Spicer worked in President George W. Bush’s administration as the assistant U.S. Trade Representative for media and public affairs. Before that, he was communications director for the Republican Conference in the U.S. House of Representatives.

Spicer has tried to reassure news organizations that Trump will not try to ban them from covering him, as the president-elect sometimes sought to do during the election campaign.

But Spicer and other Trump aides have indicated the new president would shake up the status quo in White House dealings with the media, including re-examining the need for daily televised news briefings and the practice of assigned seating in the briefing room.

“I think we have to look at everything,” Spicer told Fox News when asked about the briefings. “And so I don’t know that it needs to be daily. I don’t know that they all need to be on camera.”

(Reporting by Susan Heavey; Editing by Chris Reese and Leslie Adler)

IMAGE: Chief Strategist & Communications Director for the Republican National Committee Sean Spicer arrives in the lobby of Republican president-elect Donald Trump’s Trump Tower in New York, New York, U.S. November 14, 2016.  REUTERS/Carlo Allegri