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Religious Accommodations Are Good for US Military’s Spirit

Accommodating the 2nd and 5th largest world religions for military service, while also providing similarly for others, makes perfect since in the religiously free United States.

Andrew Donaldson
5 min readJun 8, 2019
US Army Photo, Public Domain via Wikimedia Commons

Sometimes you can be genuinely surprised by what does and doesn’t cause a stir on social media.

The U.S. Air Force has granted a religious accommodation to an active-duty Sikh airman that will allow him to wear a turban, beard and unshorn hair in accordance with his faith.

In a statement, Airman 1st Class Harpreetinder Singh Bajwa said he was “overjoyed that the Air Force has granted my religious accommodation. Today, I feel that my country has embraced my Sikh heritage, and I will be forever grateful for this opportunity.”

Bajwa serves as a crew chief at McChord Air Force base near Lakewood, Wash. The Air Force’s decision to allow him to maintain traditional Sikh customs in regard to his appearance is a “historic” first, says the American Civil Liberties Union. The Air Force was not immediately able to confirm that he was the first Sikh in their service who was granted such a waiver.

Bajwa is a first-generation American who enlisted in the Air Force in

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Andrew Donaldson
Andrew Donaldson

Written by Andrew Donaldson

Writer. Mountaineer diaspora. Veteran. Managing Editor @ordinarytimemag on culture & politics, food writing @yonderandhome, Host @heardtellshow & other media

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