Are grooming standards in the military outdated and without purpose?

I am not in favor of changing the appearance and lowering grooming and uniform standards. These are still Military units and that means for one thing holding all to certain standards of appearance in uniform. They way You are viewed, favorably or unfavorably had a great deal to with a professional image. i found the same to be true in even Civilian Police Departments, the Dept I was on adhered to Military standards for uniforms and that coupled with a proper conduct and demeanor made our job easier and We were viewed as professional compared to Departments that didn't maintain that standard. In the long run it actually made the job easier and We felt better about ourselves as well. Except for some special operations functions that may need to blend into a non Military or non Police setting I see no advantage at all in the relaxing of standards on uniforms and appearance.

Grooming standards should never be relaxed while stationed in CONUS or at
a home base!

That was the first tour uniform. Changed flack vest types 3 different times in 4 years. This argument will never be settled. FORSCOM will enforce 670-1, and SOCOM do what they need to do. Just walk fast between Camp Vance and the Green Bean, and maybe you won't get corrected by someone with nothing to do that has escaped the JOC. P.S. This is my uninformed opinion. I am a no tab leg and I know nothing about this subject.

Grooming standards in the military must be enforced by the area of operation. Standards are necessary and should be enforced, but that being said, they must be enforced using some common sense. Garrison personnel should be expected to meet all standards while combat area of operation should have relaxed standards.

Uniformity is an absolute during basic training, times are different now and our country is sure different now, the men are just displaying another form of comradeship, while yes it needs to be in check, it also should be embraced.

I think it's time to relax the grooming standards to a degree, both for operational and for force protection purposes. We live under a constant threat of terrorism, both at home and abroad, and service members are primary targets for terrorists, whether in uniform or not. Allowing them to blend in with the civilian population more will help to mitigate the risk. I'm not saying we should get all crazy with the long hair and long beards, but a "business casual" hair style and a short cropped beard should be acceptable, and will also help service members to blend in more. I remember watching the AFN commercials in Germany where they said we should blend in with the locals while living overseas. Well that's hard to do when we all have high and tights. The locals can spot us a mile away, even when we take the time to dress as they do.

Now in an operational setting, a little more leeway should be given, especially in the Middle East where beards are the norm. I know that many "old school" Soldiers will say that strict grooming standards demonstrait a high level of discipline, but that's just how our society has been programmed to think, but there's no did unitive proof of this. The fact is, Armies have had long hair and beards for centuries, and many of them were more disciplined than any Soldier today could ever hope to be, mostly due to the hardships they had to endure that are no longer commonplace in today's military. Now if the point is to look neat and "professional", again, as long as the hair and beard are neatly cropped, they can still be considered to be neat and professional.

I had tats while in. But I wasn't spec ops or in a position where it mattered such as honor guard etc.

If you are in the midle of a Nerve Agent or Blood Agent attack you don't have a couple of minutes to go shave.
And when you look at the unconventional battles going on today, there are several groups using chemical weapons.

C'mon, every service has a grooming standard and uniform regs. All which soldiers, sailors,airmen, coasties and Marines push to the edge. Even now all you need to say is my face hurts and get a shaving waiver. Go full beard and it's one more thing to micromanage. I get it, operators get bushy-mane and wear what they want during ops...but I also see them strolling around in garrison looking that way and everyone is afraid to say something. What's going to be the standard for beards and goatees? Length width? Can you dye it? Faddish shaping? Is this how the general American populace envisions how the military should look or are the more comfortable with a shaven and cut look. If a dude can't sprout a full beard, can he get hormone treatments? What if it's all scraggly or spotty, does he have to shave it? Guys can barely keep a mustache within regulation, I can't imagine authorized beards working out. There are countries that allow them but those dudes aren't always fighting their system and conform to their facial hair requirements. I just can't see it happening in the US where you guys have 6 inches of hair slicked back or micro-fros as they toe the line.

Personally i feel like shaving standards should be more laxed. I'm not saying go out and grow a giant bundle of manliness on your face, but maybe even the 1/4th inch rule like those with profiles. Shaving every day, especially in the field environment can open up small wounds susceptible to irritation and infection