Facial hair in the military
In the Indian Armed Forces, male Sikh servicemen are allowed to wear full beards as their religion expressly requires followers to do so.
The requests can be for religious reasons (full beard only), health reasons such as acne (no restrictions on facial hair styles), and on the grounds of "free will", which means the facial hair (mustache, a goatee or a full beard all of which must be well groomed) has to be part of the soldiers identity and part of his self-esteem.
In the past, the exemption from shaving on the religious reasons or on the grounds of "free will" lasted for the duration of the soldier's entire service.
[9] Soldiers of the First Scout Ranger Regiment were sometimes spotted sporting various types of facial hair during and after training and in combat operations.
Military commanders of Kshatriya order (called Kshetri in Nepal), especially of five Kaji noble families – Thapa, Pande, Kunwar, Basnet and Bista – used to link moustaches to dignity.
The Estonian Defence Forces allow active duty members to grow facial hair, but it has to be trimmed and groomed properly.
Sappers chosen to participate in the Bastille Day parade are in fact specifically asked to stop shaving so they will have a full beard when they march down the Champs-Élysées.
Under Nazi rule, the German military permitted only a small, neatly trimmed moustache,[15] though such regulations were often relaxed under field conditions.
[16] Growth of a full beard was the norm for U-boat crews on active duty, though facial hair was expected to be shaved off soon after reaching port.
The Royal Guard (pictured) is required to be clean-shaven or bearded, depending on the style of facial hair that the monarch wears.
Dress and grooming standards for Spanish ISAF forces have been relaxed to help the troops blend in better with the local Muslim population.
The motivation for the regulation prohibiting beards is that it interferes with gas masks by making it difficult to achieve a perfect airtight fit.
The tradition allegedly dates back at least to the time of the prince of Kyevan Rus' Sviatoslav I of Kiev was famous for his military campaigns in the east and south.
[22] Until the mid-19th century, facial hair was unusual in the British Army, except for the infantry pioneers, who traditionally grew beards.
As a result, facial hair, moustaches and side whiskers in particular, became increasingly common on British soldiers stationed in Asia.
After the Crimean war, regulations were introduced that forbade serving soldiers of all ranks from shaving above their top lip, in essence making moustaches compulsory for those who could grow them, although beards were later forbidden.
[23][24] However, there is considerable evidence in photographs and film footage that the earlier regulations were widely ignored and that many British soldiers of all ranks were clean-shaven even before 1916.
Members of the royal family, who are expected to wear military uniforms on ceremonial occasions even long after their formal military service is complete, have sometimes worn beards with Army, RAF or Royal Marines uniform (e.g. King Edward VII, King George V, Prince Michael of Kent and Prince Harry).
On 12 August 2019, the Royal Air Force announced that all personnel would henceforth be permitted to wear beards,[28] and on 28 March 2024, the British Army followed suit.
In the event of conflict in which the use of chemical or biological weapons is likely, service personnel with beards may be required to shave a strip around the seal of the respirator.
[31] From 25 September 2018, the wearing of a beard was authorized for all CAF members upon attainment of their operationally functional point (OFP) or having completed developmental period one, whichever came last.
New regulations that came into effect 6 September 2022 allow the wearing of sideburns, beards, moustaches and goatees, or a combination of styles, for all members of the CAF from recruitment to release.
Only after the rank of captain, officers in the Army, Air Force and Police are allowed to wear a well trimmed moustache that doesn't grow over the upper lip.
[33] All branches of the U.S. military currently prohibit beards for the vast majority of recruits, although certain styles of mustaches are still allowed (see below),[34] originally based on policies that were initiated during the period of World War I.
Excluding limited exemptions for religious accommodation, the United States Army, Air Force, and Marine Corps prohibit beards on the basis of hygiene and the necessity of a good seal for chemical weapon protective masks.
On 10 November 1970, Chief of Naval Operations (CNO) Elmo Zumwalt explicitly authorized beards for active duty Naval personnel, in his Z-gram number 57, "Elimination of Demeaning or Abrasive Regulation," although his position was that they were already implicitly allowed based on policy changes made by his predecessor, Thomas H. Moorer:[citation needed] 1.
Those demeaning or abrasive regulations generally referred to in the fleet as "Mickey Mouse" or "Chicken" regs have, in my judgment, done almost as much to cause dissatisfaction among our personnel as have extended family separation and low pay scales.
I will not countenance the rights or privileges of any officers or enlisted men being abrogated in any way because they choose to grow sideburns or neatly trimmed beards or moustaches or because preferences in neat clothing styles are at variance with the taste of their seniors, nor will I countenance any personnel being in any way penalized during the time they are growing beards, moustaches, or sideburns.
Mustaches are generally allowed in both the military and police forces (except for those undergoing basic training), so long as they are well-groomed.
As of 1 November 2022, serving Royal Australian Air Force members may seek approval to grow a beard from their commanding officer, following the same standards as the Navy; previously, only moustaches were permitted.
