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Fast facts
The organization, in one glance.
- Name
- Sikh American Veterans Alliance (SAVA)
- Mission
- So that every American who can meet the military’s standards, including religious Americans, can serve without giving up the core tenets of their faith.
- Founder
- Dr. Kamal S. Kalsi, D.O., Army physician; Lieutenant Colonel, U.S. Army Reserve
- Status
- 501(c)(3) nonprofit · EIN 82-2919194
- Address
- 300 Main Street, #776, Madison, NJ 07940
- Media
media@sava.org- Social
- Instagram @sava.service
Boilerplate
Wording you can lift.
About SAVA
The Sikh American Veterans Alliance (SAVA) is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit that works so that every American who can meet the military’s standards, including religious Americans, can serve without giving up the core tenets of their faith. Through advocacy and engagement, SAVA brings community members and policymakers together to honor the values that faith and military service share, to stand against religious extremism and intolerance, and to strengthen the force through inclusion. SAVA presented the documentary Colonel Kalsi: Beyond the Call.
About the founder
Dr. Kamal S. Kalsi, D.O., is an Army physician, a lieutenant colonel in the U.S. Army Reserve, and the founder of the Sikh American Veterans Alliance. An emergency medicine physician, he was among one of the first Sikh American soldiers of his generation allowed to serve with his turban and beard, and he helped bring about the Army’s 2017 policy that lets soldiers keep their articles of faith for a whole career. He was awarded the Bronze Star for a 2011 deployment to Helmand Province, Afghanistan. In civilian practice he is an Integrative Medicine / Regenerative Medicine Physician.
Please use “Dr. Kamal S. Kalsi, D.O.” on first reference. Pronounced KAH-mul KAHL-see.
Press kit
Download and go.
Everything here is free to use with the credit shown. Need a different size, a vertical crop or a clip from the film? Write to media@sava.org.
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Press photoDr. Kamal S. Kalsi, D.O. · 1920 × 1080 · JPG · 190 KBOpen
Credit: Courtesy of SAVA, from Colonel Kalsi: Beyond the Call -
Media bioDr. Kamal S. Kalsi, D.O. · one page · PDFOpen -
The record, with sourcesSeven dated milestones, each cited · PDFOpen
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Documentary one-sheetColonel Kalsi: Beyond the Call · credits and trailer link · PDFOpen
In the news
Selected coverage.
Reporting on the work, newest first. Links go to the outlets; some may ask you to sign in.
- Stars and Stripes Army prescribes religious test for appearance waivers, trims sideburns in updated grooming standards
The May 19 memorandum requires every soldier with a current religious accommodation to be re-evaluated under a new chaplain-interview process.
- Outlook India · PTI Short film ‘Colonel Kalsi’ to screen at MIFF 2024
The documentary by Anand Kamalakar and Geeta Gandbhir screens at the Mumbai International Film Festival.
- Military.com After legal battles, Sikh graduates Marine Corps boot camp with beard, turban
Pfc. Jaskirat Singh graduates after the appeals-court injunction; Dr. Kalsi, SAVA’s founder, is quoted.
- NPR Marines can’t deny Sikhs over their beards, court rules
A unanimous D.C. Circuit panel lets three Sikh men start Marine boot camp with their articles of faith.
- The Washington Post · via Stars and Stripes Sikh recruits had to choose between Marines and beards — until now
The appeals court orders an injunction while the recruits’ suit continues.
- Religion News Service Veterans, Muslim and Jewish groups file support for Sikh recruits suing Marine Corps
Names the friends of the court, SAVA among them, backing the recruits in the D.C. Circuit.
- Marine Corps Times Sikh Marine captain, poolees file federal lawsuit alleging discrimination
The suit that became Singh v. Berger is filed; SAVA’s president is cited.
- Military Times Dual devotion: A Sikh Marine can now wear his turban in uniform. But he wants more
A Marine officer’s partial accommodation, and SAVA’s help for Sikh sailors and Marines applying for theirs.
- Religion News Service Sikh American soldiers continue to campaign for right to wear beard, turban
From a memorial at Arlington: Dr. Kalsi, whose 2009 accommodation was the first since the Army’s appearance rules of the 1980s, on the work still ahead.
- WHYY N.J.-Pa. Sikh veterans march in national Independence Day parade to combat discrimination
SAVA sends a dozen service members to the parade in Washington.
- Military.com 14 Sikh high schoolers get waivers to enter Army basic with beard, turban
Fourteen students are granted waivers under the 2017 policy; SAVA’s president is quoted.
- Stars and Stripes More bearded, turbaned Sikhs join Army as Pentagon reviews religious articles ban
Eight new waivers after the January policy, and the 2009 request that came first.
- NBC News Army issues new rule granting religious accommodations for turbans, beards, hijabs
The January 3, 2017 directive, and the 2009 cases that opened the way.
- NPR Uniform rule may keep religious Americans from military service
The first observant Sikh to apply for the accommodation since the rule took effect in the 1980s, and the case-by-case process that deterred others.
- The New York Times · via Honolulu Star-Advertiser Kamaljeet Singh Kalsi: Taking on rules to ease Sikhs’ path to the US Army
A profile of the Army major whose 2009 exception was the first under the appearance policy of the 1980s.
- Stars and Stripes Sikh doctor gets Army OK to keep turban, beard
The Army grants Capt. Kalsi an exemption to keep his turban and beard.
Interviews
Dr. Kalsi is available to speak on faith and service.
Religious accommodation in the U.S. military; the Army’s 2017 policy and the 2026 review of existing accommodations; the experience of Sikh Americans in uniform; and the making of Colonel Kalsi: Beyond the Call. Requests to media@sava.org.
Need something else?
Write to media@sava.org. For anything in the record, start with the source list.