The previously noted “controversy” over female American Soldiers wearing a headscarf resembling the Islamic hijab has resurfaced with gusto.

A Chicago Tribune opinion piece written by Kyndra Miller Rotunda, a former JAG, displayed a bit of ignorance when the author said 

The U.S. military is “encouraging” female soldiers deployed to Afghanistan to wear Muslim headscarves — even when on patrol. Not only is it dangerous to patrol without a helmet, it imposes a religion on our troops and violates the uniform policy.

Contrary to the author’s statement, there is no evidence the headscarves have taken the place of helmets on patrol; there is no sacrifice of safety in that regard.  The former Army lawyer also played loose with some history (or was, again, ignorant of it):

The military’s policy is not only oppressive and dangerous, it violates the military’s uniform policy. In the 1980s, a Jewish airman wanted to wear his yarmulke with the military uniform on a U.S. base during peace time. The Army said no, because the yarmulke conflicts with the military’s uniform policy.

But the military now thinks it’s OK to encourage women soldiers to wear headscarves, putting them in danger.

It is true Goldman v Weinberger (1986) upheld the right of the military to ban religious accoutrements in uniform (specifically, prohibit a Jewish soldier from wearing a yarmulke).  However, that’s not the full story.  That court case led directly to Congress imposing a policy (by a change in Title 10) requiring the military to accommodate religious garb to the extent it did not detract from the mission.  In fact, the yarmulke is the only religious item explicitly permitted by DODD 1300.17, Accommodation of Religious Practices Within the Military Services.

It is disappointing that a former Army lawyer would be so misinformed or naïve about military policies (though she’s certainly not the only one).

For its part, the US Army says it doesn’t require the practice, though it permits women to wear the headscarves:

“Those female service members … do so as a personal choice,” Adm. Mike Mullen wrote to Rep. James Langevin, D-Rhode Island, last week. “They feel this gesture helps them in accomplishing their mission by serving as a sign of courtesy and respect toward the locals.”

Indeed, many of the pictures of female Soldiers in the scarves include local women wearing similar garb.  The US military walks an understandably fine line in the Middle East and Asia, as “culture” so closely intermingles with “religion” in the region.  There is a tactical (and strategic) advantage to such sensitivity; at the same time, there are gains to be made in religious freedom and women’s rights if American troops can display a positive example in the region — rather than simply bowing to local customs.

To this point, it seems the US military is not requiring military members to wear a strictly religious garment.

In an interesting addition, US Air Force Academy cadets recently took part in a cultural training exercise as part of a Behavioral Sciences course.  In the exercise, they interacted with a mock Afghan village.

Guess what the female cadets wore?

Top photo caption: 1st Lt. Ana Monteiro, Massachusetts Army National Guard, swings with an Afghan girl at Ariana School during a humanitarian aid drop of school supplies on Nov. 10, 2010, in Kabul, Afghanistan. (Sgt. Rebecca Linder)

Bottom photo caption: Cadet 1st Class Maritza Mendoza and Cadet 2nd Class Kristen Connell attend a women’s shura to engage female community members during a tribal engagement exercise at Fort Carson, Colo., Saturday, April 2, 2011. Cadets from Behavioral Sciences 460, Sociology of Violence and War, travelled to a mock Afghan village to engage the local population for information to meet exercise objectives.  (Maj. Jimmy Do)