The Military's New Religious Accommodation Guidelines

The Army has issued a new regulation: Effective immediately, brigade-level commanders will be able to grant accommodations to servicemen and women who wear beards, turbans, or hijabs for religious reasons—the three most common requests for waivers to current guidelines on grooming and dress, according to a letter from the Secretary of the Army, Eric Fanning. The new guidelines also revise hairstyle standards for female soldiers: They can now wear dreadlocks, cornrows, or twists, provided they're relatively small, uniform, neat, and tied off inconspicuously, and they don't have to request an accommodation to do so.