Court Rules Sikh Marine Recruits Can Wear Beards at Boot Camp

A federal appeals court on Friday granted a preliminary injunction allowing two Sikh men to immediately begin basic training with the U.S. Marine Corps without shaving their beards, ending a monthslong battle about whether the men could freely practice their religious beliefs.

A third man who plans to enter officer candidate school should have a related case reconsidered by the U.S. District Court, according to the ruling.

U.S. Court of Appeals Judge Patricia Millett wrote in the opinion that the three men, Jaskirat Singh, Milaap Singh Chahal and Aekash Singh, who plans to enter officer candidate school, all desired to serve the country and were qualified to enlist.

However, their Sikh faith requires them in part to maintain unshorn hair and beards, which conflicted with the Marine Corps’ standard grooming policy for boot camp for newly enlisted recruits, which lasts 13 weeks.

Judge Millett wrote that while the Marine Corps had agreed to accommodate the men’s religious commitments after basic training was completed, it had not provided a compelling argument for any safety reasons for the policy nor an argument that unshorn hair would interfere physically with boot camp training.

It also did not explain why unshorn hair, kept in compliance with Marine Corps policy, is incompatible with being a Marine after boot camp.

“The balance of equities and the public interest weigh strongly in favor of issuing the injunction,” Judge Millett wrote. “And they are now suffering and will continue to suffer grave, immediate, and ongoing injuries to the exercise of their faith.”

The Marine Corps argued, in part, that allowing the men to keep their beards would interfere with troop uniformity.

The court pointed out, however, that recruits were allowed to grow beards if they suffered from razor bumps and that the corps had loosened restrictions over long hair on women and tattoos.

The Marine Corps did not immediately return a request for comment on Monday.

In April, the three men and Capt. Sukhbir Singh Toor, who is fighting for the right to wear his beard during combat deployment, filed a lawsuit against the Marine Corps, saying its refusal to grant a religious waiver was arbitrary and discriminatory, and violates the constitutional right to free exercise of their religion.

The lawsuit is symbolic of a larger issue the military faces: preserving its traditions while also attracting personnel in an increasingly diverse nation. At the crux of the dispute is the ongoing tension between constitutional guarantees of individual rights and what the military says is its need to maintain an effective fighting force that at times must impinge on those rights.

Amrith Kaur Aakre, the legal director of the Sikh Coalition, said the court ruling was “one step toward ensuring our government respects people from all backgrounds.”

“Our clients have lived in limbo for more than two years, waiting for any satisfactory explanation of why they must sacrifice their faith to serve our country,” she said.

Eric Baxter, a vice president and senior counsel at Becket Law, a nonprofit that defends religious liberty, said in a statement that the ruling was “a victory for our nation, as three brave and dedicated men will soon serve our nation with valor in the Marine Corps.”

Brian W. Song, a partner at the law firm BakerHostetler, said in a statement that the U.S. military and militaries around the world know that Sikhs with turbans, beards and other articles of faith are capable of honorable military service.

“This injunction should be a wake-up call for the U.S. Marine Corps to recognize that fact as well — especially as our Armed Forces move towards becoming more diverse, more inclusive, and more representative of the America they protect,” he said.