Pentagon reveals new grooming standards Revision of military troops

The Pentagon has unveiled a new overhaul of grooming standards to guarantee more than the soldiers are “shaved” this week.

The war secretary, Pete Hegseth, ordered that the troops needing a medical exemption can keep the hair of the face for a year as long as they follow a plan to treat the condition. After that, they must eliminate the separation of the hair or face hair.

“The ministry must remain vigilant to maintain the grooming standards underlying the philosophy of warrior,” wrote Hegseth in a service note on August 20 made public on Monday.

Leadership will also have to examine how the grooming standards have changed in the last decade.

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The war secretary, Pete Hegseth, ordered that the troops needing a medical exemption can keep the hair of the face for a year as long as they follow a plan to treat the condition. (Fox News / The Will Cain Show)

“The grooming standard established by the American army must be shaved and clear in a presentation for an appropriate military appearance,” HegSeth said, according to the Pentagon spokesperson, Sean Parnell.

“Commanders must apply coherent criteria and appropriately consider the interests of the ministry for security and uniformity when authorizing individual exceptions,” added Parnell.

The memo has not mentioned whether the troops would still be allowed to display a mustache, as they have been for decades. The Hegseth office did not return a publication -time clarification request.

Most of the razing derogations concern the troops diagnosed with a pseudofolliculitis barbae, or PFB, a condition where the hair curls up to the skin after shaving and causes irritation.

After a year with a medical exemption, soldiers must start to shave or face the separation. (istock)

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Hegseth’s memo did not address religious housing. The army began to grant beard exemptions in 2017 after the pressure of Sikhs soldiers, for whom the unlisted facial hairs are a religious requirement.

Some troops quickly tested the limits of politics. In 2018, a soldier obtained the approval of a beard by claiming adherence to the Nordic pagan faith, identifying himself as pagan.

The new standard for all members of the service is “clean” – but it is not clear if it also applies to mustaches. (Yauhen Yerchak / Sopa Images / Lightrocket via Getty Images)

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In 2019, Army SPC. John Hoskins pushed the limits by asking for a religious exemption and claiming to belong to the church of the flying spaghetti monster, a faith known as “past”. He was refused.

The army has announced an update of its grooming standards this week, also defining authorized hairstyles and ponytail lengths for soldiers, who are allowed to wear only clear nail polish.