Marine Sikh’s turban fight not over
Corps made small concession, but he says it’s not enough
Almost every morning for five years, 1st Lt. Sukhbir Toor has pulled on the uniform of the U.S. Marine Corps. On Thursday, he also got to put on the turban of a faithful Sikh.
It was a first for the Marine Corps, which almost never allows deviations from its hallowed image, and it was a long-awaited chance for the officer to combine two of the things he holds most dear.
“I finally don’t have to pick which life I want to commit to, my faith or my country,” Toor, 26, said in an interview. “I can be who I am and honor both sides.”
His case is the latest in a long-running conflict between two fundamental values in the U.S. military: the tradition of discipline and uniformity, and the constitutional liberties the armed forces were created to defend.
While Sikh troops in Britain, Australia and Canada have long worn turbans in uniform, and scores of Sikhs do so now in other branches of the military, Toor’s turban is the first in the 246-year history of the Marine Corps. For generations, the Marine Corps has fought any change to its strict appearance standards, saying that uniformity was as essential to a fighting force as well-oiled rifles.
The Marine Corps has made the allowance only to a point. Toor can wear a turban in daily dress at normal duty stations, but he cannot do so while deployed to a conflict zone, or when in dress uniform in a ceremonial unit, where the public could see it.
Toor has appealed the restrictive decision to the Marine Corps commandant, and he says that if he does not get a full accommoda
tion, he will sue the Marines.
“We’ve come a long way, but there is still more to go,” he said. “The Marine Corps needs to show it really means what it has been saying about strength in diversity — that it doesn’t matter what you look like, it just matters that you can do your job.”
For the Marine Corps leadership, an exception as small as one man’s turban was seen as so potentially dangerous that Toor’s request went all the way to top Marine Corps authorities. Their initial reaction in June was largely a denial. In a stern response, one Marine Corps general warned that individual expression of that kind could fray the fabric of discipline and commitment that binds the Marines. It could erode the nation’s trust in the Marines. It could undermine combat effectiveness. It could cost lives.
“The Corps cannot experiment with the components
of mission accomplishment,” Lt. Gen. Michael Rocco, deputy commandant for manpower and reserve affairs, said. “Failure on the battlefield is not an acceptable risk.”
Toor appealed to the commandant of the Marine Corps, which retreated a bit in August, allowing him to wear a beard and turban in limited circumstances.
The Marine Corps’ argument, time after time, has been that change could hobble its ability to fight.
“In order to build squads that will move forward in a combat environment where people are dying, a strong team bond is required,” Col. Kelly Frushour, a spokesperson for Marine Headquarters, said in written responses to questions from The New York Times about Toor’s case. “Uniformity is one of the tools the Corps uses to forge that bond. What the Corps is protecting is its ability to win on
the battlefield, so that the Constitution can remain the law of the land.”
Toor grew up in Washington, D.C., and Ohio, the son of Indian immigrants. His father wore a beard, a turban and other symbols of Sikh religious devotion, including a simple steel bracelet and small blade that are meant to remind faithful Sikhs that they are expected to act as virtuous — and, if necessary, armed — defenders of the innocent and oppressed.
Growing up in the wake of 9/11, Toor knew that many Americans wrongly associated Sikhs with dangerous religious fanatics. He hoped his military service would help change that.
He joined the Marines after college in 2017, knowing he would at least initially have to forgo the physical symbols of his faith, but he was willing to make the sacrifice. “I felt there was a debt to be paid,” he said about his choice. “My family
came to this country seeking the American dream, and we got it.”
Believing it was wrong to ask for anything before he had given of himself, he shaved daily and wore a Marine Corps utility cap for years without complaint. When he was selected this spring for promotion to captain, he decided it was time.
He wrote his formal request for a religious accommodation in April. Two months later, he got a decision from the head of manpower and reserve affairs.
After lecturing him on the dangers of his request, the decision letter granted the accommodation — but with so many caveats that it amounted to a denial.
Toor would be allowed to wear a beard and turban whenever he wanted, as long as it was not while he was deployed, serving in a combat unit that might deploy or performing ceremonial duties in dress uniform.
How often might those circumstances occur?
“Like, every day,” Toor said with a laugh in a telephone interview over the summer from Darwin, Australia, where he was training with American and Australian forces. “That is just what I do. I’m a combat arms officer.”
Toor said the Marine Corps’ limits meant that “I would have to either sacrifice my career or my ability to practice my religion.”
After he appealed the decision, the Marine Corps retreated somewhat on ordinary duty but refused to budge on wearing a turban during ceremonial duties.
The rationale was that the Marine Corps must sometimes limit individual religious rights to avoid appearing partial to any particular faith.
“Marines represent the entirety of the Marine Corps,” said Frushour, the Marine Corps headquarters spokesperson. “Therefore, we strive to present a neutral image to the public. The Marine Corps wants all with the propensity and ability to serve to see a place for themselves within our ranks.”
Toor worries that the opposite is true — that the hard stance on beards and turbans will make Muslims, Sikhs and others less likely to serve and deny them equal opportunity.
“Sikh kids growing up might not be able to see themselves in uniform,” he said. “Even if they want to serve, they might not think their country wants then.”
Toor said he hoped the Marine Corps would see the advantages of allowing more freedom of religious practice without a court battle.
“It doesn’t matter what size, shape, color, gender you come in,” he said. “If you meet the standard, you meet the standard, and that makes you a Marine.”