"While commanders are still able to issue service members exemptions from shaving - a policy that has existed for decades - they will now have to come with a medical treatment plan, Hegseth said in an Aug. 20 memo made public Monday. Troops who still need treatment after a year will be separated from service, the memo says. "The Department must remain vigilant in maintaining the grooming standards which underpin the warrior ethos," Hegseth wrote"
"Most shaving waivers are for troops diagnosed with pseudofolliculitis barbae, or PFB, a condition in which hair curls back into the skin after shaving and causes irritation. It is a condition that disproportionately affects Black men. The memo is silent on what treatments the military would offer for troops affected by the new policy or if it will front the cost for those treatments. The document, which declares that "the grooming standard set by the U.S. military is to be clean shaven and neat""
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth ordered that service members who require shaving exemptions lasting longer than one year must be separated unless a documented medical treatment plan resolves the condition. Commanders may still authorize shaving waivers but those waivers must include a medical treatment plan and are limited to one year. Most waivers address pseudofolliculitis barbae (PFB), a condition that causes ingrown hairs and disproportionately affects Black men. The policy does not specify what treatments will be offered or who will cover their cost. The policy's effects on operational exemptions and extreme-climate cases remain unclear. The change aligns with other service updates tightening grooming standards.
Read at Fortune
Unable to calculate read time
Collection
[
|
...
]