海角大神

Sitting in the barber chair as a brand-new cadet at West Point, Simratpal Singh couldn鈥檛 watch as the barber cut his hair for the first time in the Sikh鈥檚 life.

鈥淚t was excruciating,鈥� says Captain Singh of having to remove his turban and be shorn of his long hair and beard. He asked to turn his barber chair around, and had trouble looking at himself in the mirror for weeks afterward.

鈥淎t the time, I decided to basically choose to serve my country,鈥� says Singh, an Army Ranger who went on to earn a Bronze Star during a tour of duty as an engineer helping to clear roadside bombs in Afghanistan.聽鈥淏ut what I promised myself is that I鈥檇 figure out a way to maintain my articles of faith again.鈥�

It took 10 years, but last week he was granted a long-term accommodation. And this week, three of Singh鈥檚 fellow Sikh soldiers also were granted long-term clearance to wear their beards and turbans.

The four more than double the number of Sikhs who have been granted such religious accommodations, supporters say. They see this week鈥檚 decision as hope for greater acceptance of religious differences in the future, adding that the current laborious process has the unfortunate effect of discouraging religious minorities from serving in the military.

鈥淚 think that鈥檚 a shame, because that situation basically pushes away young, qualified candidates, be it from the Sikh religion, or from the Muslim religion, or Buddhist,鈥� says Maj. Kamal Kalsi, the first Sikh to be granted a religious accommodation by the Army in nearly a generation. 鈥淚f we want a modern progressive military that looks like America, we鈥檙e going to have to come to terms with the fact that not all Americans look alike.鈥澛�

A hijab at The Citadel?

In a sign of the changing face of the American military, the US Army isn鈥檛 the only military entity weighing the needs of religious minorities this week. The Citadel is considering a request from an . If the accommodation is granted, it reportedly would be the first uniform exception allowed in the military college鈥檚 more than 170-year history.

This week鈥檚 decision is a clear sign that the US Army is becoming increasingly open to diversity, says Diana Verm, an attorney at the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty, a nonprofit public interest law firm that specializes in religious freedom cases.

鈥淲e鈥檙e hopeful that this will lead to a change in policy in the near future,鈥� says Ms. Verm, who has worked on the case.聽

Before 1974, Sikh Americans were allowed to serve in the US military while keeping their articles of faith. Since 1981, stricter grooming regulations required聽 recruits to request religious accommodations on an individual basis. Prior to this year, only three Sikhs had been successful.

Keeping up the family tradition

Singh knew he was dedicated to military life. Since childhood, he had been fascinated with the soldierly sense of tradition within his own family and his larger Sikh community. His great grandfather was in the British Indian Army and fought in World War I. His family celebrated Singh鈥檚 acceptance to the prestigious US military academy.

鈥淲e stand for justice, equality, and fighting for those who can鈥檛 defend themselves,鈥� he says. 鈥淲hen you don the uniform of Sikhs, you鈥檙e telling the world that鈥檚 what you stand for, and you鈥檙e paying homage to those who came before you and stood for those principles.鈥澛�

When his family arrived in the United States, Singh was nine years old. 鈥淲e applied to multiple countries, and we were very, very grateful for the opportunity to live here,鈥� he says. 鈥淚 felt obligated to serve my country in the best way I saw fit, which in my mind was military service.鈥�

For now, however, these exceptions are not permanent. The Army has requested 鈥減eriodic assessments of the effect of your accommodation, if any, on unit cohesion and morale, good order and discipline, health and safety,鈥� Assistant Secretary of the Army for Manpower Debra Wada told Singh and others, in a memo.

鈥淚 may withdraw or limit the scope of your accommodation for reasons of military necessity,鈥� she warned, 鈥渋ncluding if I cannot confirm that Army protective equipment鈥� like gas masks work correctly with a beard.

Sikh soldiers have repeatedly been asked to test the seal of their gas masks with the use of tear gas, including three days of 鈥渆xtraordinary testing,鈥� says Verm. Special Forces soldiers, who are allowed to wear beards to fit in with the local populations, aren鈥檛 required to do that sort of extensive testing, she adds.聽

'They didn't care if I had a beard or turban'

For Major Kalsi, who received the first accommodation to wear his articles of faith in 2009, it took a year and a half of paperwork and lobbying, including getting 50 congressional signatures and 15,000 petitioners on a letter to the secretary of Defense.

Kalsi served as an emergency room physician at a military hospital in Afghanistan, earning a Bronze Star for his service. When troops were under attack and injured, 鈥淭hey didn鈥檛 care if I had a beard or a turban. They wanted someone to take care of them,鈥� he says.聽

Since he learned about the exception this month, the reaction among Singh鈥檚 fellow soldiers 鈥渉as been overwhelmingly supportive,鈥� with messages arriving in from soldiers he served with and old buddies at West Point.

鈥淢y will to get this accommodation never faded,鈥� Singh says. 鈥淚 just had to figure out how to go about it.鈥澛�