Staff Writer

Jewish organizations may have a hand in helping the U.S. Air Force to train personnel on written guidelines concerning the free exercise of religion.

That's according to some of the representatives of 10 major Jewish organizations who met last Thursday at the Pentagon with Secretary of the Air Force Michael Wynne to discuss the interim religion guidelines. The Air Force did not make any meeting participants available for interview.

The guidelines had been formulated after a series of complaints alleging religious intolerance toward Jews and nonreligious Christians at the Air Force Academy in Colorado Springs, Colo.

Anti-Defamation League national director Abraham Foxman said that he suggested to Wynne that groups such as the ADL, which already conducts a variety of diversity training programs, might be a good choice to help the Air Force educate its cadets and commanders on the new rules.

Wynne "apologized for not having said it [first] himself," Foxman reported.

"We offered to be a part of it" and Wynne "indicated he would be reaching out to some of us," said Foxman.

American Jewish Committee counsel and legislative director Richard Foltin also noted that the Air Force expressed interest in receiving input from Jewish groups on implementation.

He expected that "other voices" -- which might not necessarily agree with Jewish groups -- would be consulted, as well, Fotlin said.

The training of Air Force personnel in how to administer the new rules is just as crucial as the guidelines themselves, stressed Jewish leaders who attended the meeting.

"You can't take a piece of paper in isolation," said Orthodox Union director of public policy Nathan Diament. The next step is "how is it going to be implemented in the Air Force."

But Jewish leaders said they believe the Air Force was taking their concerns seriously.

Foltin said he came away from the meeting "impressed by the seriousness of purpose" of Wynn and the other Air Force officials present.

"I don't think they left any doubt" that they wanted to work on the "environment of religious pluralism" in the Air Force and ensure that the service was respectful of diverse religions, said Foltin, who attended the meeting with AJCommittee president E. Robert Goodkind.

The meeting, said participants, also helped to clarify some questions raised after the Air Force significantly shortened the interim guidelines, a move that critics saw as weakening language discouraging superior/subordinate proselytizing and the use of sectarian prayer at public settings.

Wynne told participants that the Air Force wanted to be able to fit the whole document on one page so it could "hang on a bulletin board," said Diament.

Air Force leaders "very clearly said they were not making any substantive policy changes" by removing portions of the original document, just editorial alterations to shorten the guidelines from what had been a lengthy three-page set of rules, Diament said.

"They wanted people to read it and be able to absorb it," said Foxman of the Air Force's explanation, adding that officiasls stressed the changes were "in form and not in substance."

Wynne also stressed that the guidelines were still "interim" and were "certainly open to revision and refinement," said Diament.

Air Force spokesperson Jennifer Bentley said in a statement that the meeting was "productive."

"We share the belief that it is important to continue to balance issues of religion and religious freedom in the military," said Bentley. "We all want our men and women who fight for freedom to be able to enjoy those freedoms, depending on the military situation. Therefore, we do our best to support and accommodate the free exercise of religion. In constitutional terms, we're balancing extremely complex concepts of free exercise and nonestablishment. In military terms, and in human terms, we are balancing rights and responsibilities, power and freedom."

The meeting came 10 months after District Rabbi Arnold Resnicoff was appointed to a one-year term as special assistant to the secretary of the Air Force and chief of staff for values and vision, in the wake of the controversy over religious intolerance at Colorado Springs.

The first version of the interim guidelines was issued in late August to generally favorable reviews from Jewish leaders, but Foxman saw the February revision as "a significant step backward."

Other Jewish leaders were more favorable, but still expressed some disappointment at the elimination of detail.

At the time, Foxman attributed the changes to "pushback" from evangelical Christian groups and members of Congress who argued that the original document violated the free exercise rights of Air Force members.

The ADL leader said he still believes that was the case, but said last week's meeting represented the Jewish community's opportunity for its own "pushback."

He also said he was heartened that Air Force leaders stressed that the guidelines are still a "work in progress."

"It's a continuing process, not the end of the process," Foxman said.

Jewish Council for Public Affairs executive director Steve Gutow noted that Jewish groups would continue to follow that process closely throughout the implementation period.

"The proof is in the pudding," said Gutow. "We're not going away. ... We're going to be watching ... [and] try to hold their feet to the fire."

But, he added, the meeting "made me feel comfortable we're on the right track."