Q: Is the U.S. Army going to allow soldiers to grow beards and wear turbans? Is this a fact or an example of false news?
—David A. Manecke, Mableton
A: The Army adjusted its grooming policy earlier this month to accommodate soldiers of certain faiths.
Brigade-level commanders can now determine if soldiers can wear a hijab, a beard or a turban with “uncut beard and uncut hair” based on their religious beliefs, Army Secretary Eric K. Fanning wrote in a directive on Jan. 3.
“Our goal is to balance soldier readiness and safety with the accommodation of our soldiers’ faith practices, and this latest directive allows us to do that,” Lt. Col. Randy Taylor said in a statement, as reported by Reuters.
The Army had previously allowed exceptions to certain Sikh soldiers, Stars and Stripes reported.
They included Capt. Simratpal Singh, a combat veteran who was permitted in 2016 to grow his beard and wear a turban in uniform.
Q: Why does WABE no longer broadcast the Met Opera on Saturday afternoon? It had been broadcast for many, many years.
—William Baker, Atlanta
A: WABE (90.1 FM) changed its weekend schedule in September 2016 to "better reflect content our listeners prefer," vice president of radio Christine Dempsey told Q&A on the News in an email.
“This decision was made utilizing listener surveys, as well as ratings data,” Dempsey wrote.
The Toll Brothers Metropolitan Opera can be heard at the same time on station’s HD2 channel or streamed from WABE.org, she wrote.
Andy Johnston with Fast Copy News Service wrote this column; Lisa Fu contributed. Do you have a question? We’ll try to get the answer. Call 404-222-2002 or email q&a@ajc.com (include name, phone and city).
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