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On 1 September 2014, the disreputable American News web site published an article whose clickbait headline stated that Muslims had demand[ed] the Army change its dress code to include turbans and beards. The article text itself made no mention of any such demands from Muslims, however, but merely summarized an earlier Department of Defense (DoD) announcement regarding religious accommodation in uniform codes: The American News article about changes to military dress code regulations was dated 1 September 2014, but no such regulations were issued or updated on immediately prior to that date. Several months earlier, on 22 January 2014, the Department of Defense did issue a press release titled DOD Releases New Religious Accommodation Instruction via the American Forces Press Service which painted a far less alarming picture of the issue than the American News headline did. In a 22 January 2014 statement, Pentagon spokesman Navy Lt. Cmdr. Nathan J. Christensen explained that as a result of a DoD instruction, allowance for religious dress accommodations would be added to U.S. military uniform guidelines on a case-by-case basis: Christensen elaborated on factors that could warrant a denial of accommodation: The release concluded with a final quote from Christensen: On 22 January 2014, the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR) issued a press release responding to the DoD's updated guidelines. The CAIR release made reference to a successful 2011 effort that resulted in the relaxation of Junior Reserve Officers' Training Corps (JROTC) dress codes to allow for religious attire: At the time of the dress code update, CAIR spokesman Ibrahim Hooper said: Jasjit Singh of the Sikh American Legal Defense and Education Fund said the updated guidelines were structured in such a way that they continued to discourage Sikhs (who are not Muslims) from military service: The updated regulations affected a number of faiths and was supported by interfaith groups. A New York Times article quoted the leader of a Sikh advocacy group and provided a short explanation of the effect the previous ban on beards and turbans had on Sikhs: At least two requests for religious accommodation were denied by the Army in 2014.
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