{"id":147152,"date":"2026-07-10T15:34:23","date_gmt":"2026-07-10T15:34:23","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/people\/147152\/"},"modified":"2026-07-10T15:34:23","modified_gmt":"2026-07-10T15:34:23","slug":"us-forces-face-close-shave-as-pete-hegseth-steps-up-his-war-on-beards","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/people\/147152\/","title":{"rendered":"US forces face close shave as Pete Hegseth steps up his war on beards"},"content":{"rendered":"

Things are getting hairy in the US military<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Secretary of War Pete Hegseth was stunned to find during a recent visit to a US Navy ship that American forces had been flouting a new Pentagon grooming policy<\/a>, CNN reported<\/a> Friday.<\/p>\n

Hegseth issued a memo this past September restricting most service members from having beards \u2014 but several sailors who greeted the secretary weren\u2019t bare-faced, as expected.<\/p>\n

Secretary of War Pete Hegseth was stunned to find when he boarded a Navy ship recently that the sailors were flouting a new Pentagon grooming policy, CNN reported Friday. Office of the Secretary of War Public Affairs<\/p>\n

That prompted meetings at the Pentagon to discuss the implementation of Hegseth\u2019s war on what he had called \u201crampant and ridiculous shaving profiles.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWant to bring to your attention that the SecWar is paying close attention to the progress of the EEO [Equal Employment Opportunity] reforms,\u201d one defense official dealing with civilian personnel policy wrote in a June email.<\/p>\n

\u201cIn fact, the push is to move faster \u2026 there is a need to revamp some of our timelines,\u201d the email stated.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s unclear which ship prompted the redoubling of shaving efforts, though Hegseth was aboard the USS Boxer in Singapore in May and the USS Carl Vinson in San Diego in June.<\/p>\n

\u201cSecretary Hegseth maintains the highest expectations for our service members to uphold the professional standards of appearance, fitness, and discipline that define our warfighting force, and he continues to emphasize consistent enforcement of hair, weight, and grooming standards across all ranks,\u201d said chief Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell in a statement.<\/p>\n

\u201cCommanders at every level are expected to lead by example by meeting these standards, implementing these requirements, and they will be held accountable for delivering results as the Department works to restore a culture of excellence and readiness. Our Armed Forces are stronger when every service member meets and exceeds these expectations.\u201d<\/p>\n

Hegseth had issued a memo last September restricting most service members from having beards \u2014 but several he greeted during his visit weren\u2019t bare-faced as expected. Commander, U.S. 2nd Fleet<\/p>\n

Hegseth ordered a review of military grooming expectations in March 2025, prompting service branches to later restrict medical waivers for unshaven troops.<\/p>\n

\u201cNo more beardos,\u201d the secretary declared in a Sept. 30, 2025,<\/a> speech to general and flag officers at Quantico, Va. \u201cThe era of rampant and ridiculous shaving profiles is done.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cSimply put, if you do not meet the male level physical standards for combat positions, cannot pass a PT test or don\u2019t want to shave and look professional, it\u2019s time for a new position or a new profession,\u201d Hegseth warned.<\/p>\n

Hegseth first ordered the review of military grooming expectations in March 2025, prompting services branches to later restrict medical waivers for unshaven troops. U.S. Coast Guard Southwest<\/p>\n

The same day, a signed memo<\/a> from Hegseth listed \u201cadministrative separation\u201d or being \u201cflagged as non-deployable in the appropriate Military Service personnel system\u201d as the resulting penalties.<\/p>\n

\u201cAll personnel must maintain a clean-shaven face,\u201d the memo stated, mandating that sideburns can\u2019t extend past the opening of the ear; beards or other facial hair are banned unless receiving some kind of exemption; and mustaches need to be \u201cneatly trimmed\u201d without extending \u201cpast the mouth corners.\u201d<\/p>\n

The rules were more lax in some instances for Special Operations Forces, who still have to be fully shorn if deployed in locations marked by chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear threats.<\/p>\n

Mustaches need to be \u201cneatly trimmed\u201d without extending \u201cpast the mouth corners,\u201d a September 2025 memo stated. Commander, U.S. 2nd Fleet<\/p>\n

Those with medical conditions like pseudofolliculitis barbae can still request waivers, however, so long as there is an \u201cindividualized review for operational impact\u201d during every 12-month period. Commander, U.S. 2nd Fleet<\/p>\n

Those with medical conditions, like pseudofolliculitis barbae (razor bumps), can still request waivers so long as there is an \u201cindividualized review for operational impact\u201d during every 12-month period.<\/p>\n

Some religious accommodations will also be afforded to service members in \u201cnon-deployable roles with low risk of chemical attack or firefighting requirements,\u201d provided they present proper documentation about \u201cThe sincerity of the religious or sincerely held belief.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWe don\u2019t have a military full of Nordic pagans,\u201d Hegseth said in his September address. \u201cBut unfortunately, we have had leaders who either refuse to call BS and enforce standards, or leaders who felt like they were not allowed to enforce standards. Both are unacceptable.\u201d<\/p>\n

The war secretary had likened his approach to \u201cthe\u2019 broken windows\u2019 theory in policing.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s like you let the small stuff go, the big stuff eventually goes, so you have to address the small stuff. This is on duty, in the field and in the rear,\u201d he added. \u201cIf you want a beard, you can join Special Forces. If not, then shave.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Things are getting hairy in the US military. Secretary of War Pete Hegseth was stunned to find during…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":147153,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[120],"tags":[69623,69624,4968,18,51,12885,7208,48],"class_list":["post-147152","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-pete-hegseth","tag-beards","tag-grooming","tag-navy","tag-pete-hegseth","tag-politics","tag-special-forces","tag-the-pentagon","tag-us-news"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@people\/116896417102991653","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/people\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/147152","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/people\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/people\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/people\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/people\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=147152"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/people\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/147152\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/people\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/147153"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/people\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=147152"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/people\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=147152"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/people\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=147152"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}