Are beards again allowed in the U.S. Navy? I recall that they were banned in the early days of the Reagan administration, but last night I was watching a show about women serving at sea, and there was at least one sailor with a nice, full beard. What’s the rule today?
I cannot say for certain, but I know that when I was in the US Air Force a few years ago, for certain skin conditions you could get a shaving waver, those people were allowed to have a beard.
No, beards are still not allowed in the American navy. The only exceptions are those with the aforementioned ‘no-shave chits’, and even those people need to follow certain rules re length of the beard.
KenP, are you sure the sailor in the background was American? The Canadian navy doesn’t have that rule when they’re afloat; he could very well have been an ‘exchange sailor’ (sorry, forgot what the technical term is).
I’m presuming that the sailor with the “nice, full beard” wasn’t one of the “women at sea” on which the show was focusing?
Sorry, someone had to ask.
IIRC the NAVMAC-2691 (navy/marine uniform manual) allows for beards in certain skin conditions.
What about ChiefScott? I understand that he has a full and luxuriant curling beard which extends the length of his chest.
According to My Uncle, Sgt. Major in the Army, stationed in the Millitary Affairs Division, beards are not allowed in the millitary for enlisted men, unless the afformentioned “skin condition” is documented. He did say that beards were permitted for officers, but only if trimmed to an “appropriate” length, i.e. not touching the collar of your shirt, just like the hair on the back of your neck.
In HIS HO, he said that most millitary personnel thought it was easier to simply shave rather than have to spend so much time trimming, an grooming. He did also state that you could be “busted” for having lint, specks of food, (or other debris) in your beard.
My husband is an honorably discharged Veteran of the Marines as well as the Army, and he corrobborates (did I spell that right?) this testament!
Sassy
I should correct my citation of my Uncle’s position…He WAS a
Sgt. Major, stationed at the Pentagon, in the Internal Millitary Affairs Division.
He is now a 25 year retired vet, who, I should also mention, is in the process of growing his very first Moustache!!!
Lastly, My husband now has a full, but neatly trimmed beard which I am EXTREMELY partial to! 
Sassy
Whoah! Exactly what “skin condition” requires a beard? I would think that if you did have a skin condition, you would want to have access to the skin. Or is the beard meant as protection for the skin against the sun, elements, etc.?
Some people’s skin can become painfully, nastily irritated by the shaving process. Scraping a blade across your skin can be pretty hard, ya know. An electric trimmer that keeps the beard neat avoids that.
Vis-a-vis skin conditions: it’s actually more of a follicle thing, wherein the hairs (when cut short) curve around sharply and back toward the skin. As they re-enter, they are treated as intruding bodies and cause a swollen, inflamed lump. There’s a term for it, but I forget. When allowed to grow out a little, the re-entering is minimized.
Vis-a-vis the OP: It’s not uncommon (in my experience) for the CO’s of submarine crews to allow “beard chits” to be bought from the Recreation Committee, as a fundraiser, during extended underway periods. This, perforce, assumes that the crew will not be seen by the general public during this time. With camera crews on board, everyone would have to be clean-shaven. Of course, on subs there are no women, so this wouldn’t be the case you saw.
- Dave, ex-USN submariner
My uncle tells me of a nonstop “fast run” on The USS Essex from the Aarctic to the Suez (the fastest transit ever, or to date, sumthin’ like that). He says the men were given special permission to grow beards, but they had to shave when they got into port.
BGH, I know the skin condition you mean, block on its name too. By allowing the beard grow you limit the number of “ingrown” hairs, the new ones can’s grow into the skin. The initial inflammed follicles are taken care of and new one do not form. Voila’!
As an overall policy, some medical condition are allowed/tolerated (new enlistees vs. reinlistments) during the periods of shortage, i.e., when the Pentagon needs people. I vaguely remember an Army manual, which was periodically updated.
Just to add on since we’ve wandered. I don’t think there is a difference in officer and enlisted shaving policies. I know there isn’t in the American Army. BTW, in the Army, the need to allow beard growth is called a “shaving profile”. The hairs are allowed to grow out somewhat so they will not become in-grown. People who have facial hair are asked to prove that they have a shaving profile each time they get new supervisor or when a superior asks; so it is kind of a hassle. Since it is sometimes looked upon as “getting over”, many officers and NCOs who qualify for the shaving profile forgo it, shave their faces and live with the discomfort/pain.
These days, soldiers are told that they need to be clean-shaven to get a good seal on their gas masks. I suspect that it really has more to do with discipline and uniformity, though.
Just to be sure I’d shave. I wouldn’t want to be the first guy to go because my beard got in the way of my mask.
Marc
The term is “Pseudo-fliculitus-barbae”(sp?) and the reason for not allowing beards is that a gas mask will not properly seal on a face that is not clean-shaven.
My Air Force job loosely translate to “paint and body work” and if someone in my shop has a shaving waver he cant work in the paint shop, we have to put him to work elsewhere.
Just to be clear, I do beleive that you get a better seal without a beard. However, if the Army changed to a gas mask that only covered your eyes, nose and mouth (not your chin), I beleive that soldiers would still not be allowed to grow beards.
Speaking as a Navy veteran, I can confirm there is no difference between officer and enlisted shaving standards. It would be very bad for morale if there were.
The phenomenon of ingrown hairs you’re all groping to identify is popularly known as razor bumps. African-Americans are especially susceptible to them, and thus are most often the ones with no-shave chits.
Of course, my second captain on the cruiser I served on was an insane fascist who did not allow no-shave chits. He forced everyone to shave, even if previous COs had permitted them not to.
He also believed Earth was less than 20,000 years old and that we’re in the last few years before the Rapture.
He’s an admiral now.
Funny, the Sikhs I once met don’t seem to have a problem with this; they just put a bead of petroleum jelly around the gasket.
I STAND CORRECTED! After consulting both my husband and uncle further, he corrected me that there is currently a “No Facial Hair” Policy in the Navy. My husband states that each branch is individual, and that the policy is constantly changed/ammended to please the likes or dislikes of the current person in command.
My Uncle tells me that there is a similar policy in the Army, but that once you survive Basic Training, some CO’s will let you get by with a NEATLY TRIMMED moustache, depending on his personal preferences. (i.e. if HE wants to grow a beard/‘stache’, he’ll allow his charges to as well.)
I don’t know, since I am a female, and shave my legs, (ingrown hairs or not!) armpits, and wax what little bit of facial hair estrogen loss has granted me because of the standards placed on women in this society.
Since this is fast becoming a man’s thread, I’ll excuse myself to the corner to exfoliate!!!
Sassy