An article by Agence France-Presse, published at Military.com, notes the recent exceptions provided to three Sikh applicants to the US military.  An anecdote tells of Kamaljeet Singh Kalsi’s experience in initial training:

On his first day of training at Fort Sam Houston in Texas, a first sergeant pulled [Kalsi] out of the crowd and told the soldiers about the Sikh’s long ordeal to enlist.

“These were his words: ‘The Army is made up of different shades of green, and if you have any objection to him being here, you need to tell me now,'” Kalsi said. “It was great; everybody clapped.”

The first two Sikhs granted exceptions over the past year have been non-line medical officers.  The third, Simran Preet Singh Lamba, will reportedly be a unit Soldier, which could be a significant event for future applicants.

While Sikhs must still be granted waivers to appearance standards, once that permission is granted, it appears members of the military have gone out of their way to make ensure the proper environment of respect for all military members, even those in an “unusual” variant of the uniform.