The Washington Post‘s “On Faith” column documents the story of Major Aarti Puri, a USAFA graduate and Hindu Air Force officer, entitled “A Hindu American Air Force officer: ‘Shakti’ in the trenches.”

In my four years at the Air Force Academy and more than nine years as an Air Force officer, I have learned to further embrace these aspects of both the military culture and Hindu culture. Through the lessons I have learned from being in the military and growing up a Hindu, I have gained a sense of identity and confidence to get me through the difficult times I have encountered.

This was especially true on my deployments to Qatar and Afghanistan. As a contracting officer doing business with the local economy, many of the local businessmen initially exhibited reluctance in dealing with me as a female in a position of authority. I was able to overcome this by drawing strength from the confidence I gained through my military training and the work ethic instilled in me by my Hindu upbringing.

While there have been several recent announcements about newly commissioned Buddhist Chaplains in the US military, it is unclear if there are any Hindu Chaplains in the military.  Still, Puri focuses on the aid her faith gave her during her service, and gives no indication she had issues celebrating her faith in the military, even while she was deployed.