U.S. Air Force soldiers now have the option to omit "so help me God' from their enlistment oaths or oaths to take officer appointments, according to an Air Force statement.
The decision came when an airman from the Creech Air Force Base in Nevada was refused reenlistment because he "struck out" the words "so help me God' in his paperwork, violating an Air Force policy at the time. This led to a legal case, which went to the Department of Defense General Counsel, which decided on Wednesday that the statement will now be optional.
The U.S. Navy, Marine Corps, and Army have already made the statement optional for their soldiers, according to spokesmen from all three services.
"We take any instance in which Airmen report concerns regarding religious freedom seriously," said Deborah Lee James, the Secretary of the Air Force. "We are making the appropriate adjustments to ensure our Airmen's rights are protected.
"We are pleased that the U.S. Department of Defense has confirmed our client has a First Amendment right to omit the reference to a supreme being in his reenlistment oath," said Monica Miller, an attorney from the American Humanist Association.
Hiram Sasser, the director for litigation from Liberty Institute, also expressed approval for the move, according to a report from Fox News.
"I am glad the Air Force allows airmen to omit parts of oaths with which they disagree because one day the Air Force will ask airmen to take an oath regarding controversial subjects like marriage, and Bible-believing airmen will likewise refrain from such oaths," he said.
