Sikh graduates Marine Basic
Pfc. Jaskirat Singh, who challenged the Marines – and won, was allowed to complete his Basic Training with turban and beard.
Wearing a white turban, Pvt. 1st Class Jaskirat Singh was among the Marines celebrating their achievement Friday at U.S. Marine Recruit Depot in San Diego, nonprofit organization the Sikh Coalition announced in a statement the same day.
“I’m proud to demonstrate that wearing a turban or beard does not make me any different or less of a Marine, and I intend to prove that in the future,” Singh said at a news conference afterward.
Singh, who will serve in the infantry, is thought to be the first Sikh to be granted the grooming standards waiver to attend recruit training, according to the coalition.
The case was decided in favor of Singh and two other privates by the DC Court of Appeals in December. There is another case pending, Marine Corps Capt. Sukhbir Singh Toor, who is seeking to not have to cut his hair or beard in a combat zone.
In defending the service, Justice Department lawyers have argued that the requirements are necessary to promote uniformity, cohesion and other esprit de corps characteristics. Beards also could interfere with a proper seal on a gas mask, the service’s attorneys also said.
But Singh and his attorneys say Marine Corps values such as honor, service and discipline are fundamental to the Sikh religion as well.
Singh also said he easily met seal requirements for a gas mask during his training. If he had failed, the service wouldn’t have let him graduate, one of his attorneys said.
I have seen folks on here claim that a good mask seal is not affected by a beard…been a while but I remember even troops on shaving profile whose masks leaked a bit. It’s one thing to pass in a training gas chamber… he had better hope that when something nasty like one of the better nerve agents is on tap, that he still only experiences just a “little smell” or he will wind up a “little dead.”
Not my worry, though, and I’m glad he actually WANTS to be a Marine and made it through Basic. If nothing else, you know he was the center of attention – and in Basic, BCT, Boot camp, whatever – that is NOT the spotlight you want to be in.
Oh, so now we can tell the Marine Corps what we want to do and not do? I guess it’s just a classic example of the phase we constantly hear today….”it’s the world we live in.”
I can appreciate the desire to be a Marine…a very noble gesture. However, being a Marine requires you to make certain sacrifices. You’re either a Marine and adhere to dress and grooming standards of the United State Marine Corp, OR you stay true to religious beliefs.
The nay sayers will say it’s a slipper slope… you know its not like letting gay/lesbians serve openly will lead to anything else…
Damn straight. He wanted to join the club. He knew the regulations. He wasn’t ordered to join the club. But it’s about him, not the team.
I completely disagree with this compromise of standards, but if, in today’s military, they have to allow men to dress as women, I guess it’s to be expected and pretty minor in the grand scheme of things.
I wonder how long it will be before we start seeing Rastafarian Marines with dreadlocks and Hasidic Jewish Marines with Payot.
“Standards” aren’t exactly standard and “uniforms” aren’t very uniform when they’re different for everyone.
I’d much rather have that guy then some pedophile with 18 pronouns dancing around in a dress trying to turn his outie into an inni.
Waiting to see how his issue helmet fits when gets to the fleet.
Sapper3307,
I don’t see GI Kevlar fitting over a religious spaghetti colander.
Pastafarian?
FSM – Flying Spaghetti Monster?
Sauce be upon him!
I’ve known a few Sikhs in my day and I don’t have a problem with this…what I have a problem with is swinging the door wide open to others who will be using this to their advantage to push for their own “dress code”: Just think about the service dog thing, I know your mangy mutt that shits under the table in the restaruant and bites people ain’t a real service dog. This, too, will be abused.
It happened in the prisons.
Some nancy judge proclaims an accommodation, and the inmates take advantage of it to buck the system.
In my line of work I run into the “service dog” issue from time to time. Fortunately, I can read and operate a computer. When I tell them to remove their misbehaving animal, I hand them a copy of the ADA guidelines that authorizes me to do so. Its a pain, but if they can work the system, so can I.
So much for the glory of Rome. Chesty just rolled over in his grave.
Shack.
So what will be the next “special” individual’s bullshit that the Marine Corps will be compelled to accommodate? The possibilities are endless.
Glad I’m retired.
As a proud graduate of PI (H Co. 2100, started in B. Co. 1084, had to go to Sticks and then Pork Chop for a broken foot, before enlisting in the Army and then commissioning and then getting out and then typing a long run-on sentence in parenthesis), I welcome the Sikh and hope he works a stick like his brethren.
Mop handle mayhem at its finest.
Spare the rod, spoil the looter.
This old man he played six,
He played nick back with a stick.
With a nick back paddy wack give the dog a bone,
This old man went rolling home.
fuq dat auto correct
I agree with others here that commend this man wanting to become one of Uncle Sams Misguided Children and salute him for successfully becoming one. OTH, the Old School in me remembers when the recruit adapted himself to the requirements of the Service instead of the Service having to adapt to the recruit.
I wish this man all the luck in his career and the USMC a measure of luck in dealing with this can of worms that has been opened and given to them.
I commend him too, however, conform to the standards of the team you chose to join (remember the Marines didn’t twist your arm to join them) and then be that well. But don’t volunteer to join and tell them what you want to do and or want to meet your personal needs. For that, I do not commend him. Can dudes who self-identify as a 1970’s era surfer get to keep their long hair because surfing is their “religion”? C’mom man – where does this crap stop?
Eggsxactly. Nailed it, Devil Dog! Surprised his religion allowed him to join a cult! 😜
I have no problem with the Sikh esprit de corps, they can be some bad-ass mo-fos. I wish I had one or two for neighbors.
BUT…..”Beards also could interfere with a proper seal on a gas mask”
Yeah…..that’s the part that concerns me.
I hope he has his last will & testament made out.
And that his commanders (wherever he ends up) have a pre-made template of the death letter (fill in the blank of time, place, and circumstance) to his family.
Sikhs have served with distinction in British Empire/Commonwealth armies for about 2 centuries. They are notable for being 1 of the 2 peoples ( the other being Gurkhas) who remained universally loyal during the 1857 Sepoy Mutiny.
Sikhs are well known for their charity and good deeds. In Canada, they donate more blood than anyone else.
Some Sikh badassery
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Battle_of_Saragarhi
Uniformity is sooooo last [successful] era!
I heard the Roman Legion hated when all the shields interlocked in perfect walls.
Also, you know what modern military allowed turbans too?
I’ll give you a clue:
Looks like a WW2 pick with MG 34’s on the grinder
Indian Legion
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indian_Legion
Also an MP-40 shouldered by the left-most soldier. Loves me the MP-40.
Don’t forget the Jap backed Indian National Army too
Don’t forget that the British Sihk Regiment was the most highly decorated unit in the entire Commonwealth of Nations.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sikh_Regiment
When crawlin’ out of their racks in the morning do DI’s give Sikh’s extra time to fix their hair and put on their turban?
When The Sikh puts on his turban, he can turn on his radio and listen to the Turbans singing “When You Dance, 1955 on the Herald label
The way their religion works, For practicing Sikhs, the turban is an integral part of their identity, and it is unthinkable to remove it. The turban must be worn at all times and cannot be withdrawn. The turban has religious connotations, but it is much more than that. The Sikh’s identity is expressed in the turban they wear. Sikhs consider their turban as a crown offered by the almighty.
Yeah, you had me up until the alcohol and tobacco part. 🍺🍺
Worked with a couple of Sikhs and one of my “line brothers” from my fraternity was a Sikh…straight up good dudes. In this particular case, though, I gotta say, we need to stop accommodating people. I had some knucklehead want to get a religious exemption for a beard by claiming “Norse Pagan” and I looked him dead in the eye and said, “You’re about as Norse as I am”. He was Hispanic, just like me. Hell, most Scandinavians I’ve met are Lutherans. Even the Norse aren’t Norse Pagans. 🤣
It’s a thing now. Got a DS at the UAS with a beard. Religious exemption. Norse Pagan.
Was he at least a Caucasian of some sort? One of the last things I dealt with was a Specialist who was playing “dial-a-faith” trying to get a religious exemption for longer hair and a beard. After I told him that no Chaplain was going to believe the sincerity of him claiming Norse Pagan as someone of Mexican descent I also pointed out that the Muslim card wasn’t going to work either. I did suggest that he look into Orthodox Judaism just to see if he was willing to get clipped in his 20’s. Ain’t I a stinker?🤣
Dude looks like a total mick. However… I saw a PT formation this morning, a trainee with a very nice beard, dark complexion, I’m not sure what exemption he’s under, maybe Muslim?. No headgear of any sort, so not a Sikh. I need a scorecard to keep up with uniform and grooming regs these days. On the Judaism issue; I had a Soldier, Jewish, not exactly orthodox, not really practicing his religion much at all. He was on rear d, pending a medical discharge. Good kid, good Soldier, just broken. Rear D commander said something in passing about not liking religious exemptions to 670-1. SPC C immediately starts wearing a yarmulke. Followed the regs to the T, wasn’t disrespectful, followed all the rules. Irritated the shit out of CPT E. Victory.
I support him.
Doesn’t make me Sikh to my stomach.
Posts as stupid as mine is what happens when you eat Chick-Fil-A for breakfast and stand at the door of the beer store waiting for it to open.
Rim shot, and thats a compliment from me.
Jus’ sayin’
I’ll see you that and raise you this…
After all, beer is brewed from cereal grains. Oatmeal stout, anyone?
Smooth, sweet, and strong. Good stuff.
And, by the way, that’s why you have a six-pack on standby in your fridge. 🍺🍺🍺🍺🍺🍺
The Khalsa Sikhs have 5 K’s they must always have on them. A turban to keep their hair neat, a comb, a dagger or sword, a bangle type bracelet, and underpants that tie at the waist.
Oooookay…..
So, NOT a high and tight?
Sacrifice and Service are (were) core tenets of the Military. I’m assuming service and sacrifice today means ding only as much as you’re willing to do without changing or causing personal discomfort!