Air Force allows Sikh airman to wear turban and beard while serving
The US Air Force granted a religious accommodation to a Sikh airman to allow him to wear a turban, beard and unshorn hair while serving, making him the first active duty airman to receive such an accommodation, a group that assisted with the accommodation told CNN Friday.
Harpreetinder Singh Bajwa, a crew chief at the McChord Air Force Base near Lakewood, Washington, was granted the accommodation in March after he made a request for it in coordination with the American Civil Liberties Union and the Sikh American Veterans Alliance, Lt. Col. Kamal Kalsi, the president of SAVA, told CNN.
"I'm overjoyed that the Air Force has granted my religious accommodation," Bajwa said in a statement released this week by the Sikh American Legal Defense and Education Fund. "Today, I feel that my country has embraced my Sikh heritage, and I will be forever grateful for this opportunity."...
