A member of the Sikh religion has enlisted in the U.S. Army, the first person of that faith to do so in nearly 30 years. Two other Sikhs joined the Army earlier this year as officers.
Indian-born Simran Lamba, a trained engineer, completed 10 weeks of combat training at Fort Jackson in South Carolina. Before this week’s graduation ceremonies, he was sworn in as a U.S. citizen.
The Army considered Lamba’s application for 10 months, officials said, before exempting the 26-year-old from regulations about religious clothing and displays. As a baptized Sikh, he is obliged to keep his beard and hair uncut, and to wear a turban.
The Army recruited Lamba because he speaks Hindi and Punjabi, languages that the U.S. military considers a critical skill.
During training, the young man wore a turban made of the same military camouflage fabric as the uniforms and patrol caps worn by his fellow soldiers. Both forms of headgear fit beneath a standard combat helmet.
Sikhism was founded in the 15th century in what is present-day Pakistan, but most of its more than 25 million adherents live in India’s Punjab state.
Lamba applied to join the Army after receiving a master’s degree in industrial engineering from New York University. He says it was always his dream to enter the military, and that fellow soldiers accepted him readily.
Some information in this story was provided by AP.
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