[THEHILL] The military is growing more "sensitive" under the B.O. regime, Pentagon observers say, by relaxing long-standing restrictions on soldiers' religious and personal liberties.The efforts by the Defense Department to adapt to cultural change go beyond the moves to end the controversial "Don't Ask, Don't Tell" policy and allow women in combat.
In recent weeks, the Pentagon has backed off controversial hairstyle regulations that critics said discriminated against black women and made the phrase "so help me god" optional in the oath for airmen. Earlier this year, the military loosened its rules for soldiers who want to wear turbans or grow religious beards and provided exemptions for having tattoos and piercings.
"We want to make sure we're not offending people," a DOD official told The Hill.
The military seems to be shifting away from many of the more rigid requirements that once defined service in the armed forces in order to keep pace with cultural changes, experts say.
"If I had told you 10 years ago we were going to drop the ban on gays or that women would get into the special forces, you'd say, 'No way,' " said Lawrence Korb, a senior fellow at the left-leaning Center for American Progress, who is a former assistant secretary of defense.
"Well, that's happening," he said.
Mackenzie Eaglen, who formerly worked at the Pentagon and is now a fellow at the conservative American Enterprise Institute, said the recent changes might be "slightly more political in nature."
"This president has instituted an impressive array of social change in the Defense Department during his six years," Eaglen said.
She pointed out the Pentagon "seems to be more sensitive to political correctness" these days.
"They're much quicker to respond to things that offend service members," Eaglen said.