New standardized “religious affiliation codes”

From: Active Duty USAF MRFF Client ID Information Withheld
Date: September 26, 2026 at 11:59:35 AM MDT
To: [email protected], [email protected]
Subject: Re: New standardized “religious affiliation codes”

Mr. Weinstein,

Thank you again for taking my call today. I have to admit I was a bit shocked to get the president of your organization on the phone on a Saturday. Was a very pleasant surprise.

As discussed, last night the DOD directed the transition from legacy faith and belief codes to a standardized list of religious affiliation codes. Active duty airmen have until 16 oct and guard/reserve have until 9 Nov to update their record of emergency data with these new codes.

I attempted to update my code this afternoon and to my outrage found that atheist is no longer an option, an option I have chosen for my previous 24 years of service. I never hid the fact that I was an atheist, and it never was a factor when i was leading or being led by people from many different religious backgrounds. 

There are 2 options to choose from the shortened standardized list, “no religion”, or “other religion”, but that is not the point. I along with many other service members, are atheists that do not believe in god.

If my previous (exact number of years withheld, but it is a large number) years of service while being an atheist was good enough, why is it no longer?

Again, thank you for your work in protecting the religious freedom of our service members. 

Active Duty USAF MRFF Client ID Information Withheld