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Sikhs Challenge U.S. Army's Ban on Turbans, Beards [Nudists Next?]
AP Report ^ | June 14, 2009

Posted on 06/14/2009 6:04:43 PM PDT by Steelfish

Sikhs Challenge U.S. Army's Ban on Turbans, Beards Sunday, June 14, 2009

NEW YORK — Military service is in Capt. Kamaljit Singh Kalsi's blood.

His father and grandfather were part of India's Air Force. His great-grandfather served in the army in India under the British. So when U.S. Army recruiters talked to him during his first year of medical school, he readily signed up.

But his plans to go on active duty in July are now on hold. An Army policy from the 1980s that regulates the wearing of religious items would mean he would need to shave his beard and remove the turban he wears in accordance with his religious precepts.

Kalsi and another Sikh man with the same concerns, Second Lt. Tejdeep Singh Rattan, are the centerpieces of an advocacy campaign launched by the Sikh Coalition as it tries to persuade the Army to let them serve without sacrificing their articles of faith.

"I'm an American, there's no reason why I can't serve," Kalsi, 32, said.

The Army has a long-standing interest in how its members carry themselves, with policies that ban exotic hair colors, long fingernails or certain colors of lipstick. Army officials declined to comment on the reasoning behind its policy that would force the Sikh men to give up their religious displays. Sikhs who were active-duty military when the policy was adopted were allowed to continue serving without shaving their beards or removing their turbans.

(Excerpt) Read more at foxnews.com ...


TOPICS: Crime/Corruption; News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: sikhs; uniform; usarmy
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1 posted on 06/14/2009 6:04:44 PM PDT by Steelfish
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To: Steelfish

Give Sikhs a pass. Just my opinion.


2 posted on 06/14/2009 6:06:00 PM PDT by allmost
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To: Steelfish
"I'm an American, ...

Then act like one - shave the beard ...

3 posted on 06/14/2009 6:07:14 PM PDT by Ken522
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To: Ken522

Not right.


4 posted on 06/14/2009 6:08:31 PM PDT by allmost
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To: Steelfish

The problem is a very slippery slope.


5 posted on 06/14/2009 6:08:31 PM PDT by neodad (USS Vincennes (CG 49) We know how to deal with Iran.)
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To: Steelfish

Really appreciate your patriotism, now remove the Sikhs so we can give you a buzz cut and issue you a nice helmet.


6 posted on 06/14/2009 6:09:51 PM PDT by VicVega (Join Jihad, get captured by the US and resettled in the best places in the world. I love the USA)
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To: Ken522

“I’m an American, there’s no reason why I can’t serve,” Kalsi, 32, said.
He’s right, he should follow the rules like every American that wants to serve and that starts with a haircut.


7 posted on 06/14/2009 6:11:19 PM PDT by omega4179 (America is a Christian Nation.)
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To: Steelfish
That's Sikh!!
8 posted on 06/14/2009 6:11:29 PM PDT by 2ndDivisionVet ("The unarmed man is not just defenseless - he is also contemptible." Machiavelli)
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To: Steelfish

Conform to military standards or get out!


9 posted on 06/14/2009 6:11:39 PM PDT by Cheetahcat (Zero the Wright kind of Racist! We are in a state of War with Democrats)
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To: Steelfish

the RCMP had the same issue in 1994 - They caved.


10 posted on 06/14/2009 6:11:49 PM PDT by Perdogg (Sarah Palin-Jim DeMint 2012 - Liz Cheney for Sec of State - Duncan Hunter SecDef)
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To: allmost
Agreed. Some great soldiers and allies.


11 posted on 06/14/2009 6:12:06 PM PDT by icwhatudo (For every clinic bombed or burned, 17 to 18 churches are burned down. MSM? MSM?)
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To: Ken522

They shouldnt have to shave the beard. Sikhs are very patriotc. All the great Civil war generals had a beard. It is a modern invention that really doesn’t help or hurt one’s ability to be a soldier. They way the sikhs deal with their hair, I don’t think is really an issue as well, unless they can’t get it under a helmet.


12 posted on 06/14/2009 6:12:14 PM PDT by Blogger (It is in the religion of ignorance that tyranny begins. - Ben Franklin)
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To: Steelfish

When I was in the Army we had Sikhs. They wore their sword as a photograph. The underwear we didn’t care about. The olive drab turban fit nicely under their helmets. Beards were trimmed so that gas masks fit.


13 posted on 06/14/2009 6:12:43 PM PDT by donmeaker (Invicto)
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To: Blogger

Gas masks have to seal. That can be achieved with a trimmed beard.


14 posted on 06/14/2009 6:13:31 PM PDT by donmeaker (Invicto)
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To: Steelfish

A beard is less disruptive than open, practicing homosexuals in uniform.

Since the latter is already supposed to be coming down, I can’t see a problem with giving into the Sikhs on this one.


15 posted on 06/14/2009 6:15:01 PM PDT by I_Like_Spam
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To: allmost

Rules exist for a reason. If you can’t obey them, do not enlist.


16 posted on 06/14/2009 6:16:45 PM PDT by CaptRon
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To: Steelfish

It must have been a terrible shock to him when he found out he wouldn’t be the first soldier to be allowed to have a beard.


17 posted on 06/14/2009 6:17:07 PM PDT by Balding_Eagle (Overproduction, one of the top five worries for the American farmer.)
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To: I_Like_Spam

Gas masks, helmets fitting, all of the rules appplying to everyone equally...


18 posted on 06/14/2009 6:17:50 PM PDT by CaptRon
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To: donmeaker

And so they can be modified. Israel is doing it.

http://blog.beliefnet.com/news/2009/04/sikhs-ask-to-serve-in-army-des.php


19 posted on 06/14/2009 6:18:01 PM PDT by Blogger (It is in the religion of ignorance that tyranny begins. - Ben Franklin)
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To: Steelfish
By virtue of Admiral Zumwalt's directives, I was allowed to have a beard the last two years I was in the Navy. When I was in combat, we shaved irregularly, including the officers. I don't see facial hair as an impediment to military discipline.

Lamh Foistenach Abu!
20 posted on 06/14/2009 6:18:54 PM PDT by ConorMacNessa (HM/2 USN, 3/5 Marines, RVN 1969. St. Michael the Archangel defend us in battle!)
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