The Sikh Coalition, a leading advocacy group for Sikhs in the US military, said it was “angered and deeply concerned” by US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth’s recent push for strict grooming standards that effectively ban beards, threatening religious accommodations for Sikhs, Orthodox Jews, and Muslims who maintain facial hair as part of their faith. “At this time, we are on high alert,” the coalition stated, warning that the policy could force devout service members, hundreds of whom rely on waivers to wear beards, turbans, or other visible signs of faith, to choose between their beliefs and their careers. Community voices echoed the alarm, with one Sikh soldier tweeting, “My kesh is my identity. This feels like a betrayal after years of fighting for inclusion.” The concerns stem from Hegseth’s September 30 speech at Marine Corps Base Quantico, where he addressed over 800 top military leaders, vowing to eliminate “superficial individual expression” like beards to restore “lethality” and discipline. Hours after the address, the Pentagon issued a memo directing all branches to revert to “pre-2010 standards” for facial hair, stating that “facial hair waivers are generally not authorized.” The document, titled “Grooming Standards for Facial Hair Implementation,” mandates compliance plans within 60 days and full execution within 90 days, with limited exceptions for special operations forces during “validated mission-essential requirements”though even they must be clean-shaven before deployment. Hegseth, a former Army National Guard officer whose confirmation as Defense Secretary was contentious due to past writings and conduct, mocked “beardos” and “fat generals” in his speech, framing the changes as critical for unit cohesion and mission readiness. The “pre-2010 standards” remain vaguely defined, referring to policies from the late 1990s and early 2000s that generally prohibited beards except for rare medical or religious exemptions, emphasizing a “clean-shaven and neat” appearance for gas mask seals and uniformity. Criticism has also emerged from other religious communities such as Orthodox Jews with payot and beards, and Muslims. Sikhs have served in the US military since World War I, with Bhagat Singh Thind becoming the first known Sikh to enlist in the US Army in 1917 and being granted permission to wear a turban while on active duty. However, this was an individual exception rather than a formal policy. Following the 1981 Supreme Court decision in Goldman v. Weinberger, the Army implemented stricter grooming regulations that effectively banned visible religious articles like turbans and beards for Sikhs, requiring them to comply with uniform standards unless granted rare waivers. The turning point came in 2010, when the Army granted its first formal religious accommodations in over two decades to two Sikh officers, Capt. Simran Preet Singh Lamba and Dr. Maj. Kamaljeet Singh Kalsi. These case-by-case waivers allowed them to wear turbans, maintain beards, and keep uncut hair, setting a precedent under the Religious Freedom Restoration Act (RFRA) of 1993. By January 2017, the Army formalized these relaxations through Directive 2017-03, updating Army Regulation to create a “strong presumption” in favor of approving requests for turbans, beards, and other religious items. This policy shift ensured that Sikh soldiers could serve without needing to change their appearance.
