The first Sikh officer in the Royal New Zealand Air Force says he is proud to have been given the opportunity to serve his adopted country.

Charanjit Singh, born in Nilokheri, near Karnal, in Haryana, said his message to the younger generation was to have a dream and to work hard to realise that vision.

“My message to younger generation is that one should have a dream and with hard work one can realise his or her dream. My dream has come true and yours will as well if you are focused and keep up the hard work.

“From my personal viewpoint and from an immigrant’s perspective I feel very proud that I got this opportunity to serve my adopted country."

Singh, an Engineering Officer, said he was the only turban-wearing person in the RNZAF: “Yes, it is a great feeling and I feel very proud that the RNZAF as an organisation has accepted me and my identity wholeheartedly.

“It tells a lot about the values of the RNZAF where a person is selected on the merit and not on the basis of the ethnicity and religion and once you start wearing uniform you become part of the large RNZAF family.

“And so many times the senior officers have given me the opportunity to explain my religious beliefs and identity to my colleagues and subordinates to help me assimilate and become a meaningful part of the RNZAF family.”  ?Singh did his schooling in Kurukshetra and went for further studies to Faridabad where he completed his Post Diploma in Mechanical Engineering.

“After finishing my engineering qualifications I worked with a public sector defence undertaking in Panchkula,” said Singh who came to New Zealand in 1998.
In New Zealand, he worked in different private and public sector jobs before applying for Air Force in 2006.

“The motivation behind it was that I was always interested in big airplanes. Also, my maternal uncle retired from IAF and he used to take me to different bases during his tour of duty so I guess that seeing military airplanes from so close had a big impression on my mind and when I saw the opportunity in 2006 with the RNZAF I could not resist the opportunity.

“I applied in 2006 and got selected as an Engineering Officer and completed my Initial Officer Training Course in December 2007. My parents (S Jagadish Singh and Uttamjit Kaur) were here with me on my graduation day and watched the passing out parade.”

A Flying Officer does not necessary fly aircraft.