WASHINGTON – The U.S. Army has denied requests by two soldiers to dress and groom themselves according to their religious beliefs under a revised Pentagon policy, a spokesman said on Monday.

The policy approved earlier this year was mainly expected to affect Sikhs, Muslims, Jews and other groups that wear beards, long hair or articles of clothing such as turbans and yarmulkes. It also could affect Wiccans and others who obtain tattoos for religious reasons.

Under the guidelines, the military service branches were encouraged to allow people to dress according to religious custom so long as it did not interfere with good order and discipline within their units.

But the policy has been criticized by lawmakers and members of the affected religious groups, who say the Defense Department is still setting a hurdle essentially prohibiting some people from joining the service.

Lieutenant Colonel Justin Platt, an Army spokesman, said only two soldiers had requested a waiver to the uniform policy for religious purposes since the new policy went into effect. Both were denied.

Between 2012 and 2014, the officer in charge of the process has approved six exceptions to the Army uniform policy and rejected five.

Those approved included three Sikhs who had previously been granted waivers but would have had needed a new one if they were deployed to a new position, Platt said. The new waivers approved in 2013 would be valid for their full career, he said.

The Army also has granted waivers to the uniform policy for a Jewish chaplain and for two Muslim soldiers, Platt said.

He said the five whose requests were turned down included a future Sikh soldier, an enlisted Sikh soldier, a Muslim female officer and a military prisoner. The prisoner is former Army psychiatrist Nidal Malik Hasan, who was sentenced to death for the 2009 Fort Hood shooting rampage that killed 13 people.