Wednesday, November 10, 2010

Heck, looks better than the Army beret


The US Army has graduated its first Sikh enlisted man in a generation after granting a rare religious exemption for his turban and beard because the military needs his language skills.
Good luck Siram, and thank you for serving.

.... and yes, I fully expect the relativist "everyone gets a trophy" brigade to push from everything from yarmulkes, hijabs, to holy underwear ... but that is just a failure of leadership, common sense, and vision on the part of our institutions.

Me, well ... I know of Sikhs who don't have a beard or turban; so there you go. Sikhs have an outstanding martial tradition - so in the end I'm glad he's on our side. The taxpayer will get his money's worth.

46 comments:

OldCavLt said...

Good call... and good article.

The stories of these guys in W2 and Korea ar amazing.

Anonymous said...

SCREW WAIVERS-- A sikh turban is as military as military gets.  Absolute no brainer-- sikh turbans should be included in the uniform regulations.

They are in the UK...  and in the Indian Army.  Just as they were in the British Indian Army.

FULL BORE!!  <span>Jo Bole So Nihal, Sat Sri Akal!!</span>

Anonymous said...

Grrrr... the "holy underwear" thing already happens. But we Mormons meet the military half-way - you can get them in OD green.

Anonymous said...

Of course, while I do think it's full bore, I also know that ever left-legged Wiccan will now want to wear their "historic and religiously significant" head gear....  

But good on the Army for doing THE RIGHT THING!  

cdrsalamander said...

Hey, I'm just in a snit because they won't let us Evangelicals bring snakes on deployment.  ;)

SCOTTtheBADGER said...

What about us Lutherans, can we bring our bands?  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k26nt3Y4cmg

AW1 Tim said...

Well, it WOULD be nice to have some Pagan Chaplains in the service.  8-)

Andy said...

Hey Sal, what the "guest" said about the LDS underwear.  Back about Career 1.3 one of the CT's we had with us was wearing them. NBD but for the fact it was 100% nylon.  I had to explain to him he needed cotton becuase nylon melts in fires; kind of obviates the Nomex flight suit don't you know.  He was cool, changed to cotton and we pressed on. I just hope this soldier tells the diversity industry to leave him alone and let him do his thing.  The one problem that may happen is if he goes forward, he may find himself in parts of the countryside where Sikh's are NOT well received by the locals. At all. We'll see.

Kristen said...

I think that's a very reasonable exemption in exchange for a much needed skill.  I'm happy that he wants to serve.

ShawnP said...

Kinda throws out the gas mask arguement for not having beards. That no beard rule was one of the stupid Navy rules that should have been done away with. That and those embrassing Cracker Jacks.

AW1 Tim said...

Cdr,
  I normally support you on these issues, but I have to disagree here. One uniform for one Military. No special exemptions, EVER,

  Wear wghat is issued, and conform to the standards, or get out of the waty. Yes, i am certain that we need more Sihs, and more of all sorts of lenguage folks. However, we should NEVER make an exceptions for ANYTHING. You wear what is proscribed,. or take a hike.

   It is the uniform of our NATION, and the uniform of those who sweare to defend our CONSTITUTION.  No exemptions. Ever.

  We are either all of one people, or we are not, and if not, then shame upon our leadership for getting us to this place.

  NO religion can EVER trump our Constitution,. EVER.

LT B said...

They ran a Wiccan service on one of my ships. I thought the XO's head was going to explode.

SJBill said...

Wikkan services were held aboard RONALD REAGAN. Chaps was obliged to comply.

Aubrey said...

Now if only we could get ourselves some gurkhas!

Salty Gator said...

errrr, disagree here AW1.  If the US Military could start its own Ghurka unit, I'd be all for it.  The Sikhs have a very proud martial tradition--this is a group of folks who by their religious laws have to carry daggers on them at all times so that they can be ready for battle.  I like that.
I think we'll have much bigger problems with DADT being repealed than a SIKH wearing a tactical turban.

Salty Gator said...

yeah, firefighters got that lecture too.  makes me laugh.  a well kept groomed beard won't break the seal, and to be honest, unless you are in level 5 chem-bio suit, it isn't a perfect seal anyway.

LT Rusty said...

Tim, the problem with your line of reasoning is the Constitution.  Specifically, the First Amendment, the bit about religion.  A strong argument could be made - and I suspect was made here - that by preventing someone from the exercise of his or her religion, you would be violating their First Amendment rights.

Anonymous said...

It looks a LOT better than the beret!

Salty Gator said...

I likewise have no problem with the tactical yarmulke, or the tactical muslim skull cap.  Hell, we already have adopted the tactical shemagh.  Just keep it tidy, keep it high speed, and we'll be fine.  Everyone wears the uniforms, and that's that.  

What I won't bend on is Shariah law or Judaic Law in place of American law.  No, Sir.  that won't do.

C-dore 14 said...

Only if the Episcopalians can bring booze 8-)

C-dore 14 said...

They had services on the good ship CARL VINSON too.

Kristen said...

LT Rusty, I think he should be allowed to serve, but I'm not sure about making a 1st Amendment argument.  He certainly has a right to practice his religion, but he does he have a right to do so in the Army?  Being in the Armed Forces is not considered a right, no?

LT Rusty said...

Kristen, absolutely he does.  Same logic that put Wiccan chaplains onboard our ships.  Hell, same logic that gives us any chaplains in the military.  If you support or make allowances for any religion, then you gotta support or make allowances for all religions.  I know you're not trying to tell me that only Protestants should have any kind of religious representation ...

LT Rusty said...

Kristen, absolutely he does.  It's the same logic that gives us any chaplains in the military.  If you're going to support any religions, then you have to support them all.  I know you're not trying to say that only the Protestants should have any kind of religious support. 

Kristen said...

Protestants?  Heck no.  As a Papist myself, I think the rest of you heretics should all convert.

I guess what I'm fumbling with is a hazy belief that if someone's religion is in direct contravention of regulations, the Army isn't required to allow that person to enlist.  Are people allowed to use peyote if it's part of their religious practice?

Salty Gator said...

Kristen, that's cool.  As soon as you can point to the chapter and verse in the bible that says 1 word about a pope, saints, praying to dead humans, and the necessity of gold crosses and silver platters at the same time that we are lectured about being too materialistic.  As soon as you can find those for me, I'll be happy to convert.

The Usual Suspect said...

You have to bring the old ladies that cook the best food on earth!

cdrsalamander said...

Careful .... careful ..... 

Wharf Rat said...

You've never eaten a spread until you've eaten at a buffet provided by old ladies in a Swedish Baptist Church in rural Minnesota.

I'm an evangelical because of the food! 8-)

Wharf Rat said...

<span>You've never eaten a spread until you've eaten at a buffet provided by old ladies in a Swedish Baptist Church in rural Minnesota.  Gotta luv those potlucks!  Have no idea where the word 'potluck' came from, but I approve.
 
I'm an evangelical because of the food 8-) </span>

SCOTTtheBADGER said...

You must admit, though, Ratty, that there aren't too many things nastier than lutefisk.

Grandpa Bluewater said...

There are plenty of snakes, most of them have two legs and wear khaki.

Grandpa Bluewater said...

There are no objections from the Gurkas I am aware of,

Byron said...

Wouldn't be a bad thing to have some Kurds, either. Shame the US military is dry, else Mike let you borrow his Keldara from time to time :)

C-dore 14 said...

Wharf Rat, The Lutherans and Episcopalians in rural Minnesota put out a pretty good spread too.  Think it has more to do with the location than with the denomination.

LT Rusty said...

Kristen, see 42 USCS 1996a.

Me personally, I'm an atheist, so I don't really have a dog in this fight.  Or even a really good military pigeonhole to fit into.  I could never convince them to have a science teacher as Chaplain.  *sniffle*

DG said...

Sikhs are rocking. I've known a number and they are all very squared away. I don't understand why we wouldn't want more in the military. I think the beard is a bigger issue than the turban - breathing gear and all that. They get around that by putting vaseline on the beard, which strikes me as horrible, but a good way of seeing how attached you are to your beard :)

Same with Mormons and orthodox Jews - funny underwear and tactical kippot are fine.

DG said...

Salty Gator - "Judaic Law"? Not even Israel follows Halakhah for civil law, excepting marriage and divource. And it never applies to gentiles under any circumstances.

Suggesting the implimentation of Halakhah in place of US civil law to even the most religous Jews would get a good laugh.

DG said...

How did he graduate from boot camp as an E-4?

Quartermaster said...

He is being careful Mr. 'Phibian. And having fun to boot. 8-)

Quartermaster said...

Ouch! +1

C-dore 14 said...

I'm assuming it's because of the "special program" for dual language speakers that he enlisted under.

Andrewdb said...

Kristen -

>I think the rest of you heretics should all convert

I KNEW IT!!! <g></g>

GIMP said...

Sikh history of hardcore and fullbore is undeniable and making a big deal out of a piece of headgear is silly.  Look across any base and you'll see so many uniforms and variations of those uniforms it's ridiculous.  If we all wore the same uniform and this deviation was the only one I could see how it would matter, but on a daily basis I see green and tan flight suits, coveralls, multiple varieties of camo, including the NWU, SPECOPS with beards wearing baggy cargo pants while riding 4 wheelers, khakis, working khakis, etc.  The Navy has a ridiculous number of uniforms, the Army is almost as bad.  We're nowhere near standardized and the Sikh turban is just one more piece of non-standardization.  At least it's a symbol of totally kicking butt!

Grumpy Old Ham said...

Counting down until someone pulls that pic of the ANG outfit with sixteen different uniforms and the fat Colonel wearing her USAF gloves out of the archives...3...2...1... :)

C-dore 14 said...

GIMP, Anyone who has been underway on a CVN has seen a similar situation.