Air Force Grants Beard Waiver to Muslim Airman

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Air Force Grants Beard Waiver to Muslim Airman
Hope Hodge Seck
4-5 minutes

This article was corrected Nov. 27 to reflect updated information from the Air Force.

An airman from the 821st Contingency Response Support Squadron at Travis Air Force Base, California, can now wear a beard in keeping with his Muslim faith, thanks to a recently granted religious accommodation waiver, service officials said.

Travis Air Force Base officials had previously said Staff Sgt. Abdul Rahman Gaitan was the first Muslim airman to receive such a waiver. But Capt. Carrie Volpe, an Air Force spokeswoman, told Military.com Nov. 27 that Gaitan was the sixth airman to receive such a waiver. One additional waiver has been granted since Gaitan was given the OK, and an eighth waiver is currently being processed, Volpe said.

According to a news release about Gaitan, the airman was raised Catholic but developed an interest in Islam during a 2011 deployment to Izmir, Turkey, where the Air Force maintains an air station. He continued his pursuit of the faith as he moved on to his next duty station in Hawaii, and ultimately decided to convert.

Read more at: https://www.military.com/kitup/2018/11/20/air-force-grants-first-beard-waiver-muslim-airman.html