Can I be forced to shave if I have a shaving profile?

Ok, I feel your pain. I’m a white guy that got a permanent shaving profile. Surprise!!! I got diagnosed with See a boric (sic) dermatitis. I was diagnosed when I was 24, in Germany. I’d be walking with a black soldier ( also on a shaving profile) and I would be stopped and questioned, not the black soldier. People couldn’t believe a white soldier could get a shaving profile. I had my Sargent Major damn near bite my head off for not shaving. I showed him my profile ( I had it laminated) and he shook his head and said the damn military has gone to hell in a hand basket. I still suffer this skin condition today and I’m 58. Imagine your skin burning and looking like you have a splotchy sun burn on your face after shaving. Every cream, even today is more of a hindrance than a help. I had to buy a beard trimmer to keep my beard down. My original platoon when I got the profile was supportive, cause in the words of my platoon Sargent, I was ugly, and shaving made me even uglier, and it was difficult for him to look at me unshaven, but not as difficult to look at me when I did shave. I took a lot of heat, kept my profile on me, kept the trimmer handy and Charlie Miked. Good Luck my follow soldier, I support you. A lot of people think we are Gold bricking, keep your professionalism at all times and soon, the people around you will realize you have a minor disability but your still a hard charger.

No! Absolutely false. Remember the phrase “watch your lane!” when going to the firing range? Your Sqd Ldr and Plt Sgt were out of their lane in saying to you what you claim they said. It is in the Dr’s lane to determine whether you need a profile or not.
Having said that, you need to watch your lane, when talking to others in general, but certainly watch your lane when talking to superiors, NCOs, and particularly, watch your lane when addressing your squad leader. Remain professional, maintain your military bearings, and deal with nagging details calmly and respectfully... of course, if you want to have success in the military profession. Good luck!

As a former Infantry Medic (11B/68W) I would first advise speaking to your Squad/Platoon Medic if you have one. During Desert Storm several Infantrymen had Shaving Profiles for one reason or another and most times a simple reminder from me to the NCO/Junior Officer giving the Shave Profile a hard time that the Doctor issuing the Profile was an Officer did the trick.

If you have a Squad/Platoon Medic, then s/he should be aware of your Shaving Profile. Also, it would be nothing for your Medic to verify the Shaving Profile with the Doctor who issued it. Having your Medic tell the NCO/Junior Officer that the Shaving Profile "is legit and there is nothing they can do about it" should end the matter. Carry on.

It's not a legal order so no. It's very wrong.

I know I'm way late to the party on this but here goes.

1. If what you said is accurate, he's a walking EO complaint waiting to happen.
2. An NCO can not countermand a medical profile.
3. An NCO can not give you an article 15 or chapter you out, that authority lies solely with the Commander and is processed by JAG.

You'll find that the Army does have NCO's that try to lie to you to get you to comply with their orders. Those NCO's are weak. I don't care what their MOS is, how much of a PT stud they are, if they have to lie to you to get you moving they're weak willed and weak minded.

Here's where you messed up, you cussed at your NCO. He's already in the wrong, and you damage your argument by being less professional. An NCO like that is going to have hurt feelings the instant you talk back, even after they just spent time cussing and chewing you out.

They'll probably counsel you and report your attitude, but on the up side that counseling will probably look like it was written by a 2nd grader. I joke but I have seen far too many incomprehensible 5W lacking counseling statements in my short time. A lot of those counseling statements get kicked back when they get sent to JAG as supporting documentation because of how poorly written they are.

So in short if everything is as you described, your NCO's are wrong. What can you do? Make sure you understand your profile and the regulation to the letter and that you follow it to the same. NCO's that are willing to lie, are also probably not up to date on what the reg actually says and will utilize NCO Chatter (the NCO version of PNN) rather than looking it up.

If this behavior continues by which I mean the EO, threats of UCMJ, and demanding that you violate a profile remember to document everything and then you take it to your 1SG since the PSG has already been involved. I fully expect your 1SG to be professional and handle things, keep in mind you also have your EO representative as an option if you want to make a complaint.

What can you learn from this? Someday you are going to be put in charge of your own troops. Be better than what you've experienced. Do not let what they did affect how you will lead.

You're profile was given to you and signed by an officer in the medical corps, therefore, if you violate your profile, you are disobeying a written order given by a commissioned officer.
I would let your Team Leader know you would like to have an appointment with your commander to discuss your shaving profile and to make a formal EO Complaint. If he ask what the complaint is about, let him know you will discuss it with the. commander.
After this, seek out your unit EOL and let him know.

If you have a shaving profile, you CANNOT be forced to shave. It is against the UCMJ for ANYONE to force you to go against a medical order. You were wrong to curse at your NCO, but HE was wrong for his racial comment “Like every other black person in the army”. You could file charges against him for that you so chose, but you will be black balled for it. I STRONGLY suggest you leave the infantry if you have a shaving profile. A gas mask will NOT properly seal if you are not properly shaven. It is a matter of life and death. So you could either leave the infantry and not shave, or stay and not shave and be black balled and be guaranteed a death if the enemy uses gas. Your choice brother.

EO!!! You can't let stuff slide it's so much of this toxic stuff in the ranks and it's sad. "No one is more professional than I" you have to live by that as a NCO. Also get in the regs i know you're a young soldier but learn regulations and then nobody will be able to say anything as long as you're within regulation. I dealt with this for over 15 years but I've never had anyone openly put race in it. Go talk to your eo rep.

What is doing is also a EO complaint. He may not like the idea that you have that profile but you have a Doctor that gave you that profile. He's cannot override the Doctor order. He's not a Doctor. The black comment I'm not going to say much just EO

You need to take this high than him. You have profile and that you need to follow. Let the platoon Sargent know what's going on. If you violet your profile you can be punished. He may want for you to get off your profile but if you're that bad don't do it just to please him. Even if you have to got through your chain of command that is what you have to do. Even if you got to go to IG. He should not force you to break your profile. Also you should follow your profile to the T. Keep it to standard, so long you keep it within regulation He should not mess with you. you need read up on the regulation and keep it in your back pocket. Do not just go by what other soldiers say the rag say Know it .