Freedom of Disassociation
In a religious accommodation case regarding the use of the Social Security Administration number as an identifier, the Court of Appeals ruled in favor of a Navy Chief Petty Officer who was unlawfully discharged after making a request to have a "Navy generated service number" issued as his Military Personnel Identification Number, in lieu of his Social Security Administration Number.
This case clearly shows that Officer Carmichael had a Social Security Account number assigned to a retirement account, and that he had used that number for the purposes of retirement benefits and military identification. However, during an assignment, 16 years later, Officer Carmichael determined that being associated with a Social Security number was against his religious beliefs.