FAYETTEVILLE, North Carolina, United States
Simranpreet Lamba, the Army’s only enlisted Sikh soldier, was promoted to corporal, making him the first Sikh to earn that rank in more than 30 years, according to the News Tribune.
“I kind of think all my hard work has paid off,” said Lamba, whose enlistment in 2009 triggered a ten-month review in which Army officials considered whether he could serve while sporting a turban, uncut hair and a beard.
He is one of a handful of Sikhs serving in the Army across the active-duty and Reserve forces, according to the New York-based Sikh Coalition. Two of the others are in the medical field as officers, one a dentist and one a doctor.
Lamba, 29, hopes his promotion will show “there’s nothing about being Sikh, about our turban and our beard that can stop us from excelling in the Army,” he said.
He enlisted through a military program that recruits foreigners with special skills and offers them a path to citizenship. Lamba, who has become a naturalized U.S. citizen, speaks Urdu, Hindi and Punjabi.
He moved to America from New Delhi in 2006 and found his way to the Army after he earned a master’s degree in industrial engineering from New York University.
The Indian American said he always wanted to serve his country in uniform. Enlisting let him fulfill that dream.
His promotion from specialist to corporal was a lateral move, but it signifies that he’s doing well and is on a path to becoming a sergeant. He’d be the first Sikh sergeant in decades if he earned that rank.
with thanks : Indiawest : LINK
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