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Tatla is first turbaned Sikh
regular officer in Canadian Air Force
WSN Network
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No one in the Canadian military had ever had to decide what type
of turban was appropriate for an air force officer, so Tatla was
told whatever he selected would become the standard, setting a
precedent for every Sikh who follows him into the service |
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 TORONTO:
At 35, Tatla was a married father of two with no previous military
training who had arrived at Canadian Forces Base (CFB) Esquimalt
west of Victoria about 30 pounds overweight. A vegetarian
non-drinker sporting a turban, he was the only Sikh going through
basic officer training. He’d never so much as held a gun.
Today,
Lieutenant Jasbir Singh Tatla, 35, is the first turbaned Sikh to
have become a regular officer in the Canadian Air Force as Air Field
Engineer. Tatla was born in Dhothar village in
Ludhiana
district of Punjab, India. He attended Central School, Halwara, and
G.H.G Khalsa College, Gurusar Sudhar,
Tatla earned his
Bachelor of Engineering from
G.N.E.
Engineering College, Ludhiana, and Master of Technology from Punjab
Agricultural University, Ludhiana.
Tatla immigrated
to Canada
in June, 1999. He completed a one-year Architectural Drafting
certification from Kwantlen University College in Surrey and worked
in different fields, including as an Engineering Technician in PMC
Sierra in Burnaby.
He became
director of Blacktop and Checker Cabs Ltd. Company in
Vancouver in
2007.
 Tatla’s
great-grandfather, Inder Singh, took part in the First World War,
his grandfather, Mall Singh, took part in the Burma War, and his
father, Gurdarshan Singh, retired as an Honorary Flying Officer. An
uncle of his, Sukhdev Singh, was a brigadier in the Indian Army.
With that
illustrious background, Tatla, in 2003, passed the Canadian Forces
entrance examination and waited four years for a security background
check from
India. He was
detailed to undergo training at Venture Naval Officers Training
Center Esquimalt, Victoria, in April. His graduation ceremony was
held on July 12.
After a struggle
of five years, Tatla not only achieved his goal, but has also
brought honour to his community.
Tatla gives all
the credit to his mother Hardial Kaur and father Gurdarshan Singh
Tatla for their dedication. He has two sisters, Jasvinder Kaur Mann
and Kamaljit Kaur. He is married to Pawandeep and the couple have
two sons, Sahib and Jugraj.
Tatla is a
bachelor of engineering and holds a master of technology degree too.
When he was working as an engineering technician at a
Burnaby firm, he
was laid off after the 9/11 tragedy caused a slowdown in the
high-tech sector. He became a cab driver, worked his way up to
become a director of Blacktop and Checker Cabs Ltd. in Vancouver. He
was doing all right, but almost every time Tatla would talk to his
grandfather, the retired soldier would press his grandson to do
better.
One day Tatla
learned the Canadian air force was looking for engineers. It was a
chance to do the kind of work he was trained for. He applied. It
took four years before he cleared the necessary background checks.
He made it through basic training, becoming the first turban-wearing
Sikh air force officer in
Canada.
For his
graduation ceremony, Tatla chose the size of the turban he was to
wear. No one in the
Canadian military had ever had to decide what type of turban was
appropriate for an air force officer, so Tatla was told whatever he
selected would become the standard, setting a precedent for every
Sikh who follows him into the service. On the day he became a second
lieutenant, the sergeant who’d pushed Tatla and the other trainees
so hard saluted Tatla and called him “sir.”
The newly minted
officer says it is a memory he will carry with him for the rest of
his life.
20 August, 2008
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