Air Force Eliminates ‘So Help Me God’ From Enlistment Oath

Members of the U.S. Air Force will no longer be required to say 'So help me God' during their enlistment oath.

A review of regulations that required the phrase occurred after the American Humanist Association threatened to sue on behalf of an atheist airman. The unnamed airman at Creech AFB in Nevada was denied re-enlistment last month after crossing the phrase out of the oath.

'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,' Monica Miller, an attorney with the AHA’s Legal Center. 'We hope the Air Force will respect the constitutional rights of atheists in the future.'

The Army, Navy and Marine Corps all give enlistees the option to say 'So help me God.'