Air Force Grants Master Sergeant’s Request to Wear Beard as an Expression of His Religious Faith
Pentagon steps in and reverses a senior commander’s decision which violated MSgt Hilgert’s religious liberty.
News Release
For Immediate Release: 9.10.25
Atlantic City, NJ—First Liberty Institute and the Ave Maria School of Law Veterans and Servicemembers Law Clinic announced that Master Sgt. Timothy Hilgert’s religious accommodation request to wear a beard while in his military service has been granted. The approval comes from the acting Assistant Secretary of the Air Force for Manpower and Reserve Affairs.
“We are very pleased with the Department of the Air Force’s decision to grant Master Sgt. Hilgert a religious accommodation and respect his religious convictions,” said Erin Smith, Counsel at First Liberty Institute. “We are grateful for Secretary Meink and his leadership of the Air Force. Master Sgt. Hilgert looks forward to proudly serving his country while living consistent with his religious beliefs.”
“Our clinical students are celebrating Master Sgt. Timothy Hilgert’s victory in receiving this critical religious accommodation,” stated Antony Kolenc, Clinical Professor of Law and Director of the Veterans and Servicemembers Law Clinic at Ave Maria School of Law. “As an Air Force retiree myself, I proudly stand today with this Administration’s strong commitment to religious liberty in the Armed Forces.”
Master Sgt. Timothy Hilgert serves as a Premier Trombonist in the U.S. Air Force Band. He is a Christian who has been convicted by God to wear a beard in accordance with his sincerely held beliefs. Initially his request for a relatively routine religious accommodation to wear a beard in accord with his beliefs was rejected without adequate legal justification. In his original letter, Master Sgt. Timothy Hilgert’s stated that his need for an accommodation was based primarily upon the moral principle of bodily integrity, or one’s right to autonomy, self-ownership, and self-determination which stems from the dignity of the human person, and upon the beliefs in the unity of body and soul and the primacy of conscience.
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About First Liberty Institute
First Liberty Institute is the largest legal organization in the nation dedicated exclusively to defending religious freedom for all Americans.
To arrange an interview, contact John Manning at media@firstliberty.org or by calling 972-941-4453.
About Ave Maria School of Law
Ave Maria School of Law forms lawyers of professional excellence through a legal education rooted in the Catholic Faith. Inspired by Pope John Paul II’s Fides et Ratio, we provide a distinctive formation in the harmony of faith and reason, affirming the natural law written on the human heart as the secure foundation for freedom. In doing so, Ave Maria provides students with a traditional legal education while emphasizing how the law intersects with the Catholic intellectual tradition and natural law philosophy.”
Contact: John Manning, media@firstliberty.org
Direct: 972-941-4453
Lisa Johnston, ljohnston@avemarialaw.edu
Direct: 239-687-5443
Ave Maria School of Law is a Catholic law school dedicated to educating lawyers with the finest professional skills. Inspired by Pope John Paul II’s encyclical Fides et Ratio, Ave Maria School of Law offers a distinctive legal education — an education characterized by the harmony of faith and reason. Formed by outstanding professional training and a distinctive educational philosophy, Ave Maria’s graduates are equipped for leading positions in law firms, corporate legal offices, the judiciary, and national, state, and local government.
Our mission is to offer an outstanding legal education in fidelity to the Catholic Faith, as expressed through Sacred Tradition, Sacred Scripture, and the teaching authority of the Church. University legal education began in Catholic universities, and Catholic law schools have been the bearers of a tradition that safeguards the dignity of the human person and the common good. Ave Maria School of Law affirms Catholic legal education’s traditional emphasis on the only secure foundation for human freedom — the natural law written on the heart of every human being. We affirm the need for society to rediscover those human and moral truths that flow from the nature of the human person and that safeguard human freedom.
