Why can't we grow beards?

It is interesting to here the debates about regulation vs religion and what is right and what is wrong. Military regulations have been around long before any of us today even enlisted. I remember taking an oath. Some of you may recognize it "I, _____, do solemnly swear (or affirm) that I will support and defend the Constitution of the United States against all enemies, foreign and domestic; that I will bear true faith and allegiance to the same; and that I will obey the orders of the President of the United States and the orders of the officers appointed over me, according to regulations and the Uniform Code of Military Justice. So help me God." We are swear in saying we follow orders giving to us in accordance with regulations. Just as the private once said, " I don't know that no one told me." Well suck it up butter cup. It was in writing before you raised your hand and took this oath. If you wasn't sure what you was getting into then you should have done more research. You can find most if not all regulations online. Kennedy once said " Ask not what your country can do for you, but what you can do for your country." If you take an oath live up to it, and similiar to what Kennedy said, ask not what you military can change for you but how can you change for you millitary. All of us that have served know we when into the military with one view of life and learned many views while in the service. No matter how much we hate change the military has changed us. We the Troops or Veterans, know why we call every one else civilians. Let that sink in.

Well, the official reason when I was on active duty was that beards interfere with the protective mask and may prevent the tight seal we need for the mask to do its job. That made it seem a bit strange to me when the Army allowed Sikh's to enlist and continue to wear the beard and turban their faith requires. I guess I was more worried about not inhaling poison chemicals than about growing a beard. The micro-fine powdered agents in use today (Novichok, Dusty Mustard, etc.) are even more penetrating than the small droplets in use when I was serving.

had tons of little nasties with shave chits so that they didnt have to shave bare skin still made them use scissors to clean that junk up every week, lined them up in the shave chit squad and did it by the numbers

Because your chemical, biological, radiological mask won't seal and you will die or become disabled in the field. You can't help in the battle if that happens. Letting the troops in the middle east wear beards because the enemy wears beards is a bad management decision.

GAS MASKS

Beards interfer with the proper sealing of a gas mask.

I don’t think they should have beards because of the protective mask, grooming problems in the field and deployments.

The standards were put in place for a reason, to show we are professionals and proud of what we do in protecting our nation. So, just a few that don't take pride in that, doesn't define the services. Honor, integirty, are just a few of the things that make up our military.

If the Army allows that, then we don't need to do background check anymore. Where did you get this info

Beyond refs and face masks, ask any SFC or above how many times they got passed over for the mustache before shaving and you might have another answer. LOL - tradition!