Simratpal Singh; Sikh Captain keeps his beard
Simratpal Singh, an Army Captain, West Point grad, Ranger and combat veteran, recently decided to take the Army to court to force them to allow his distinctive Sikh headwear and his beard while he continued to wear the uniform. Thursday, the Army decided to change the policy rather than battle the issue in court. The Army had previously allowed doctors to wear their religious accoutrements, but not other career fields. From the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty, which represented Captain Singh;
Captain Singh initially received a temporary accommodation in mid-December, allowing him to report to his new assignment in Fort Belvoir, Virginia, with beard and turban in place. In early March, however, the Army tried to subject him to heightened testing for his gas mask and safety helmet, even though he had already passed the standard safety testing all soldiers undergo. On March 4, 2016, a U.S. District Court in D.C. ordered the Army to stop imposing discriminatory testing and to treat Captain Singh under the same rules that apply to everyone else. The Army’s decision yesterday confirms that Captain Singh’s religious turban and beard have no impact on his ability to serve.
Sikh warriors have a long and storied military tradition, but, that was before chemical warfare. While I agree that the good captain should be able to serve, he should also understand the risks associated with facial hair on the modern battlefield. If he’s willing to take the risk, well, fine.
Category: Army News
Sure, fine for him, personally, to take risks. But what about any troops under his command (assuming he has one)?
What’s his branch affiliation? In the rear, with the gear? Or a little closer front line?
I’m SOOOO glad I’m retired, with my DD214 woobie blanket.
I agree ^^^^^
I wonder how many in the e-4 mafia are going to become Sikh’s now so they don’t have to shave….
? word ^^^^^
Sikh, and you shall find…
Well, when someone assumes a risk, and become incapacitated due to that risk, the burden of the mission falls on his team mates. The military does not allow service members to assume the risk of not wearing seat belts, another safety issue. Not being pro or anti beard here. Full disclosure, Hack never mastered the art of fashionable facial hair. I came in dead last on the mustache growing contest during Desert Shield.
General Franks (7th corp)has the best mustache to appear on AFN news. That thing was all over the place.
“Singh a song of sixpence,
A pocket full of rye. . . ..”
Sorry (no I’m not).
Just had to go there.
Dreadlocks will be next. The rasta warriors will be lining up at the recruiter’s office.
While I understand and applaud the good officer for his devotion to his religion, I cannot support the Army’s caving in to his request(s).
This sets a precedence that may well come back to haunt the Army and all other services.
What happens when muzzies decide THEY want to wear their beards, or Orthodox Jews theirs? What about hairstyles for Hassidic Jews?
Will this ruling be used by trannies to demand they get to wear the other gender’s uniform?
I understand and fully support the freedom of religion,but in this case, uniform and safety standards MUST trump these issues. It’s called “uniform” for a reason.
Individuals who wish to serve in the military must understand that certain sacrifices are made. There is NO RIGHT to serve.
It’s way past time that the military stopped being used as a petri dish for all these f@cked up social engineering experiments.
Word.
X2 ^^^^^
On the flip side, I don’t really see a reason why a serving Muslim who wanted to have a beard couldn’t apply for an exception as long as they are willing to accept the risks like he is. Especially if other militaries, such as the Brits, already allow it.
And I don’t see many Hassidic or Orthodox Jews in the military so what’s the point?
as long as he can prove that if he is incapacitated or killed as a result of his personal or religious affectations, no one else will ever have to pick up his slack, I agree. Unfortunately, in the real world
(and if he is a former Ranger he should know this) that is not gonna happen.
A request becomes a command and then a court case.
A moderate hint becomes a suggestion and then a shift in policy
A gentle push becomes a nudge which becomes a shove.
Tatts, hair, women in combat…..
Change is sometimes good, isn’t it?
Next on the agenda?
Pink anklets for the “guys” and no standing to pee because it’s not PC and may make someone uncomfortable.
I predict that if Hillary is elected urinals as we know them will be a thing of the past.
Urinals? Won’t need ’em any more! Watch the video. Fair warning: swallow any beverages first.
https://youtu.be/7EcjynBPwac
Ex-PH2
Generally, I don’t bother watching a video as long as 6:58 – – lack of attention span, BUT – I swallowed my coffee first and am glad I did.
Fricken hysterical! I can still hear that woman saying, “no, no, no!”
We’ve been issuing these to women in the Army for a few years now.
Teddy Roosevelt had a bodacious mustache.
Custer had a goatee.
Robert E. Lee and Ulysses S. Grant both had full beards w/mustache and sides.
Bernard Montgomery had a thin mustache.
On the other hand, Alexander of Macedonia demanded short hair in his troops, as did Julius Caesar, and before Scipio (he was bald) and Sulla, because long hair and beards were seen as something an enemy could grab and use to kill a Roman soldier.
Some things never change. My response to this is that if there is a gas attack and the good captain’s mask won’t seal properly because of his facial hair, he’s toast.
And while I’m at it, they should put beer machines back in the barracks, restore the EM clubs, and get rid of required PT.
Ex,
Teddy, Custer, Lee, and Grant DID NOT have to deal with weaponized toxins, and gas masks.
Dang, 25 cent beer in the rec room. Ahh..the good old days. I was there when they were taken out. Our top was not happy. Old enough to fight old enough for a beer. He made it very clear what we consumed in our rooms was not his business
*GAS* *GAS* *GAS*
Is he a go or a no-go at that station?
Seems I remember a time that if you were a no-go at this station, you did not get to proceed to the next.
But then again, that was back in a different time in a different Universe where replying “Yeah,” to a Drill SGT got you more than a warm hug and a pat on the head.
I lugged an M17 and later an M40 Pro Mask around for many years. I did deliberate decons, road marches in MOPP 4, and more CS chambers than I can remember. During Desert Shield and Storm I donned my mask during Scud alerts and at least twice when our M8 alarm went off and we thought it was the real deal.
I have at least 40 jumps with a pro mask, and on more than a few of them the godddam thing slid between my legs and kept me from executing a dynamic Parachute Landing Fall.
I got slimed at NTC 4 or 5 times, and on one occasion got a lung and a half full of CS and ran full speed over our ALO and off a 20 foot bluff and dislocated my shoulder.
That said, in the past 15 years I went to Afghanistan, Iraq (two long tours and a whole bunch of short ones), OEF P and HOA, and I wasn’t even issued a mask, much less pulled it out of it’s carrier and used it in anger or fear.
In other words, when the threat was there and credible we trained to it. Something tells me that this captain will shave his beard if he mission really dictates. He’s religious, not stupid.
As the saying goes: “If you die first, the rest of us will split up your gear”.
So when he went to Westpoint he was clean shaven and a sinner? I don’t get this PC bullshit, if you choose to join you follow the same rules everyone else does. What’s next, Army issued Mo-gas for some monk that wants to self-emulate?
it seems to me our military leadership’s backbone has turned to jelly
this is absurd
kick him out with a general under honorable conditions if he chooses not to conform to the standard. period
PC is the ruin of this country and our military, personally I am tired of these snowflakes and their self centered bovine manure..he knew the criteria when he accepted going to WP and then into the regular forces..so he should suck it up and deal with it
personally I was written up a number of times for my moustache being out of regs and got away once without a haircut for 5 months working night shifts on the flight line using gobs of hair gel & wearing a watch cap , but when I finally got caught when I put in for leave, I got reamed but good and a letter of reprimand and 3 haircuts later I finally made the butter bar happy that caught me and then he signed my leave papers
me and AFR 3510 had issues but that was me seeing how much I could get away with as a young hipster A1C in the 70’s,
so glad I received my DD 214 40+ years ago before the PC snow flake era were currently in
Is your “period” key broken or something? That wasn’t even English.
Sorry, but you join the military you voluntarily give up some of your rights, and I think one of them should be grooming standards even if they are religious based.
You need to conform to the requirements of the military, the military should not have to make special accommodations for you. Don’t want to shave your beard then don’t join.
In the Navy we weren’t allowed facial hair because it would not allow the oxygen mask to seal properly and that can kill you in a ship fire.
Lots of misinformation and speculation floating around out there.
First of all, Sikhs were in fact previously allowed to serve with their turban and beards intact (WW2, Vietnam):
https://www.pinterest.com/pin/531706299737502528/
It was only during the 80’s with the introduction of more restricted grooming standards, did the beard and turban become the issue it is today.
So let’s not act as if this is P.C. run amok, when in the past it was allowed.
Second, Singh already passed the general safety standards for troops, so it’s not like he’s putting himself or anyone else in danger.
Third, he’s a combat engineer, Army Ranger tabbed, Bronze Star for his tour in Afghanistan. So definitely not a REMF.
Last, he’s the first to be granted this exception as a combat soldier in decades. So it’s not like they’re handing these out like candy.
combat engineer, a ranger tab, a bronze star and tour in Afghanistan shouldn’t exempt him from conforming to the regulations governing appearance….if you want to wear the uniform then conform to the standard, if not, then move on and get out or conform to the standard
A. Hit “Report Comment” by mistake, sorry. Admins, please ignore. (Would it be possible to format the site so the button are further apart?)
B. Religious exemptions to uniform standards have been available since the beginning of the U.S. Military. The process is laid out in every set of uniform regs. Why are you acting like an ignorant, arrogant fool?
http://www.apd.army.mil/pdffiles/r670_1.pdf
http://www.afpc.af.mil/shared/media/document/AFD-140814-096.pdf
http://www.marines.mil/Portals/59/Publications/MCO%20P1020.34G%20W%20CH%201-5.pdf
http://www.public.navy.mil/bupers-npc/support/uniforms/uniformregulations/Pages/default.aspx
http://www.uscg.mil/uniform/docs/cim_m1020_6g.pdf
So you’re saying that regulations should never change and grooming standards shouldn’t be adjusted over time?
I have no doubt that the CPT is a fine officer and is technically and tactically competent.
I am curious about these “general safety standards” that the article talks about.
And lastly – I do have to call bulls hit on the protective mask issue. I’ve had the opportunity to fit a few (thousand) soldiers and do it now in civvie life. A standard issue M40 series ain’t sealing on his mug….
I remember back in the 80s being bored to death on Staff Duty and actually reading AR670-1 simply as I had read everything else available.
That edition had a specific section on Sikh dress code (BTW, the Turban and Beard ain’t near half of it).
All that is interesting to me is the publicity today.
Back when the Navy allowed beards they basically sucked at accomplishing missions. Now beardless (except for Spec OPs) things are much better, so no beards means a more effective military force.
/sarcasm
Actually, banning beards was just a way for the boat Rec Fund to make a few bucks on extended ops/underways by selling no shave chits.
$10 for every 30 days was the going rate. Nice while it lasted but SUCKED when we came back in. 125 bloody faces was a sight to behold.
There was a time that Sikhs could wear their beards and turbans, I was in in the early 80s and had a SSG named Singh teach one of my classes at PNCOC who wore them. I remember reading later that the Army would no longer allow them to be worn. It wasn’t that long ago the Navy disallowed seamen to wear beards.
Are OERs still ludicrously inflated as they were in the ’70s? Then you could kill a career by one checkmark at less than the highest. “Damning by faint praise” could solve all sorts of “situations”.
I recall assisting in the typing of one memorable EER. (for an E-6 as I recall…)
(Name) is an adequate soldier, and can usually be relied upon to perform his duties with a moderate amount of supervision.
Epic.
I actually wrote an NCOER on a SSG that said ‘performs to standard only when closely supervised’, when I was in Korea.
The CSM about flipped- ‘that will end his career!!’.
‘Exactly’, I said. I had all the counseling to back it up and it stuck.
I seem to recall back in the 1970’s a Sikh US Army soldier compromised on carrying his Sikh Kirpan Dagger by agreeing to just carry a picture of the Dagger on his person. The Sikh gods did not strike him dead with a lightning bolt so I guess it was OK.
I always wondered why a US Army Sikh couldn’t conform to the standards and just carry a picture of the themselves with the turban and beard and cover all the bases.
Considering that just about every Soldier I see on a daily basis has a Syderco, Leatherman, or Gerber tool on their belt or clipped inside their pocket I don’t think the knife is an issue any more
Sounds like a bunch of whiny soldiers here. Religious freedom means religious freedom, even if you are ignorant of history and other religions. Kudos to this Captain.
I don’t see soldiers complaining about the over abundance and over representation of Catholic chaplains in the military. Many of us don’t like to hear prayers at every unit event, but we carry on because we respect your religion even if you don’t respect ours.
Pot meet kettle.
Maybe your religion does not nut up and join the Chaplain Corps in as great numbers.
Sounds like you have tons of respect.
Remember the best burgers are made from Sacred Cows.
Wat
The legal complaint from the Becket Fund can be found here:
http://www.becketfund.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/03/SinghvMcConvilleComplaint.pdf
While most complaints are one sided and present the argument in the best light for their clients, the complaint makes compelling reading.
For example, each time a Sikh solder was transferred to a new post, he had to reapply for a religious accommodation. That seems to indicate that the policy was not standardized across the Army.
This meant that a Brigade dentist serving at a forward operating base in Afghanistan and who was recommended for a Bronze star for his service in that theater could not be posted to a highly selective dental school in Fort Bragg because his religious accommodation for his beard and hair did not transfer with him out of a combat zone. It was okay for him to be a practicing Sikh in Afghanistan, but back in the states, he couldn’t practice his faith.
According to the complaint, for many years a member of the Sikh faith taught the wearing of gas masks and other protective clothing.
The complaint lists many more incidents.
The odd thing is that the Army forces people to violate the tenants of their faith before being allowed to apply for a religious accommodation. In other words, to apply for a religious accommodation initially, the soldier must first cut off their beard and hair and then ask for the religious accommodation.
That would be a “Catch-22.”
No one has ever offered any solid proof or evidence that having a member of the Sikh religion has led to anything bad happening. That should be the standard – not what people project might happen, especially when their projections are contrary the actual facts and history of Sikhs serving within the Army.
Most folks keep throwing out that they’re fine with this as long as HE is willing to accept the risk.
“It’s too hot today. I don’t want to wear my vest on this mission today – I’m willing to accept the risk.”
“My helmet gives me a headache. I’m not wearing it anymore but I’ll accept the risk.”
“I think I’ll take a stroll through Indian Country to find a General to talk to. I’ll accept the risk.”
Where’s it gonna end??
The better question is “where is it going to begin?”
The DOD regulation is that the accommodation can be made as long as the accommodation “would not adversely affect mission accomplishment.”
Members of the Sikh faith have been awarded Army’s
Silver Oak Leaf Cluster Award, the Bronze Star Medal the
Meritorious Service Medal, and the Army Commendation Medal since the ban went into effect in the late 1980’s.
Observant Sikhs serve in the armies of Australia, Canada,
India, and the United Kingdom. Are people saying those fighting forces can do what the US Army cannot?
History has shown that Sikhs can and have served with honor and distinction while observing the tenants of their faith. That’s factual.
Where is any actual history or facts that a Sikh grooming has affected the mission or the man and women around him?
If someone can say “this bad thing happened here because of the religious requirements of the Sikh faith,” I am willing to listen. As it is, all that can truly be said is that observant Sikhs have fought and served with honor and distinction as well as a love for the United States.
I’m not picking on Sikhs per se, but as we’ve seen, once the door is opened for one, others follow and want their butts powdered too.
BTW, what’s a Silver Oakleaf Cluster award?
If you don’t see the distinction between “affecting the mission” and “not affecting the mission”, you might not be effective in leadership positions.
You are such an asshat NBC.
None of you examples even come CLOSE to the circumstances surrounding this issue.
Context dear Lard. Context.
Asshat.
I’ll let you wear it if you’d like. It looks much better on you…
You don’t know me, Commissar.
JACKs in the house !!!!!!
It’s Bullshit.
I bet out of the millions of citizens we have and also non citizens that can serve, we could find one non snowflake that can do the job without requiring special privileges.
Is this the military any longer or what? GTFO with this nonsense shit.
Gaddamn it I hit the Report button in error again. So sorry….
This was the obvious and correct outcome. Both constitutionally and common sense.
The fight over this was stupid.
And don’t give the that bullshit about gas masks. There are dozens of soldiers, even hundreds, with lax grooming standards in a combat zone at any given time.
This is just trying to preserve a nonsense regulation because many authoritarian personalities just can’t cope with people “getting away” with not complying with a regulation.
Well his beard is now part of the regulation. So preserve that.
Lars is adding the to his thesis for his Masters Degree in Womyn’s Social Justice Theory under the category of “Checking in my white privilege as an avowed Feminist in today’s oppressive society outside the hallowed halls of academia”.
Oh, but, poodle, you are the MOST militant authoritarian figure of all about things that YOU don’t approve.
I must say, poodle, that I am SO disappointed in finding that you didn’t go spout of on the article I wrote. My widdow feewings are…. giving a shit.
Lars is no different the most neo nazi, hardcore right wing conservative. Same varmint, just different fur is all.
Commissar does not know me.
But I know you, Jack…
Back doing more research are you Lars?
Still waiting for you to tell me I’m wrong Lars.
He’s probably scouting for some girl to pay for his dinner, Animal.
I think that would put him at odds with his white male privilege he apparently is a strong advocate against. No surprises there though right?
For all the complainers here: Do you even Sikh, bro?
https://www.google.com/search?q=special+forces+in+afghanistan,+beard&espv=2&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwj35bHOkvPLAhWrxIMKHUhzDeoQsAQIHA&biw=1600&bih=775
Translation: If it doesn’t put these guys at risk, it won’t put the Capt. at risk.
Get bent.
BTW:
Beards are NOT unusual in the military.
US Navy wore beards ever since we started handcrafting warships. Underway beards are still common, field beards are needed … So quite frankly, if this RANGER wants to, needs to … WFT?
WHO CARES?
I am more worried about Private Charlie on Monday who wants to be Private Charlette on Wednesday!
This fight with this warrior is BS!
So how long until female Muslim Soldiers start demanding to be allowed to wear a niqab?
SO what if they do? IF my SCBA can seal while I’m wearing a nomex hijab, than what is the issue? THe ladies in the PKK are better grunts than plenty of 11bs i;ve served with.
What is the big freaking deal here? “We” glorify the “War Beards” of our Special Forces, and then someone wants to be able to keep his beard based on religious reasons and people lose their collective shit…
Not like this is Pvt Tentpeg all of a sudden deciding that he is a she, and wanting to get implants, wear a skirt, and get his willie lopped off on the government dime.
Religion or no we’ve all seen the beards in the field…I think it’s safe to say most know where I stand on religion…in the absence of religion if we allow it one place there is little reason to not allow it in another.
I don’t respect any religions for my own personal reasons, but I understand the country was founded on allowing people to decide for themselves free of encumbrance from the government how they want to conduct their belief system. We embrace all of these people into our military when it suits our purpose, consequently we should learn to accept the aspects of their belief system that make them who they are and thus fit for service.
If wearing a beard doesn’t interfere with SFs ability to kill the enemy I find it difficult to assume that this Ranger would be unable to kill the enemy while observing his religion and wearing a beard.
If he smells like ass in the field so what? Every close cropped, or bald headed, clean shaven, son of a bitch I ever knew smelled like ass after a few days anyway…it’s the fucking infantry not the White House color guard.