Military families living at an Air Force base in Florida have been ordered to take down their Christmas decorations under a strictly enforced regulation that tells them when and where they are allowed to celebrate.
Residents of Tyndall air force base received a tersely-worded memo from their landlords, private housing contractor Balfour Beatty Communities, informing them that a de facto patrol of the installation had uncovered infractions of their lease agreements in the form of early holiday inflatables, lights and other festive adornments.
“While driving through the neighborhoods yesterday, it was noticed that Christmas decorations have started to appear within the community,” the message, sent under the title “one holiday at a time”, said.
“All holiday decorations should reflect their respective months and not anything sooner than 30 days before the holiday outside your home, please remove them and install them in your community guidelines.”
The rule, copied below the message, prohibits the illumination of Christmas lights from the week after Thanksgiving, which this year falls on 27 November, until the third week of January. And even when they should be dark from 11pm to 6:00 the next day.
In the comments of the unofficial Facebook page for Air Force personnel That copied the memo, some posters welcomed the development, while others opposed it.
“People should find happiness however they can now,” said one commentator.
But another said simply: “I mean, can we give it a chance?”
The Chief of Public at Publicall, Capt Justin Davidson-Beebe, confirmed the authenticity of the directive in a statement on the military’s military news website. Task & Purposewho first reported it. But he insisted that the order was not issued by the military commanders.
“These instructions are not part of a broader Air Force policy,” he said. “Because community standards are set by the privatized home management company in some installations, standards may vary from base to base.”
In Tyndall, he added: “They implement the community standards outlined in the legally binding agreement on all residents who voluntarily sign.”
The private home management companies are still very powerful in the military, functions and the purpose of passing the biden administration in 2020 in a More bill of rights Signed by then-Depenecy Secretary Mark Esper and heads of the Army, Navy and Air Force.
An order not to celebrate Christmas, or at least to delay it, seems to repeat Donald Trump’s frequent claim of “Happy Holidays” instead of “Merry Christmas”.
While the President did not give an opinion on the Tyndall Directive, housing rules on military bases appeared to favor some of his political allies.
Last month the Atlantic reported that Stephen Miller, his influential policy adviser; Kristi Noem, Secretary Security Security; and Marco Rubio, Secretary of State; Among others, there are all the accommodation of the officials was taken to install in the Washington-area, targeted for their safety.
Don’t know if anyone has started hanging their Christmas decorations yet.