...For some of those faiths, proper observance necessitates the growth of facial hair.

The Army recognized this in 2017, acquiescing after years of beard-exemption requests and legal pressure from Sikh soldiers seeking to preserve religious traditions while wearing a U.S. uniform.

The Army’s ruling failed, however, to specify exactly which religions qualified for exemptions and which were simply out of luck, thus blurring the boundaries of the facial hair exemption process.

...“While we cannot speak to the specifics of any particular case, religious accommodation can be disapproved if it is determined that the request is not based on a sincerely held religious belief or if the accommodation would create a specific hazard that cannot be reasonably mitigated.”