Why can't we grow beards?

Try to seal a gas mask with a beard.

Try to seal a gas mask over one.

Discipline, hygiene, professionalism, uniformity and standards. We are the Army.

I always love it when Soldiers post pictures of Civil War Generals with beards and ask why not? Custer had shoulder length hair, why not? What they don’t tell you that the Civil War had more deaths than any other conflict of American Soldiers. And that the majority of deaths during the Civil War came not from battlefield wounds; musket, rifle or cannon fire, swords or sabres, but from disease. We knew about as much about hygiene at the beginning of the Civil War as they did during the American Revolution, but the weaponry had advanced considerably. Infections, typhoid, diarrhea and dysentery were the major killers. For every Soldier that died on the battlefield, two died of disease. That’s the reason we started giving recruits buzz cuts when they entered basic training, head lice among other maladies. Not for looks but we did literally did it for your health.

Add that to the fact not everyone can grow a righteous beard. Even Gerard Butler’s beard in the 300 was artificially enhanced. So you have a few Soldiers rocking the Special Operator look, the others look more like Shaggy from Scooby-Doo, in other words, like crap. No amount of steroids will make it look any better. It’s just an excuse for a Soldier to roll out of the bunk in the morning, be lazy, show up for formations looking like they just came off a two day drunk, and tell the First Sergeant, hey Top, I’m growing a beard! And you can’t discriminate, if these Soldiers get to grow a beard (as in not shave), then so do those Soldiers.

By the way, the military has always been about being professional. The concessions you touch on above come about when standards have to be lowered due to periods of high tempo, low recruitment. No senior leaders I ever worked with or for ever voted for these exemptions frivolously or without lots of discussions and great debate. And I was involved in a few. In a perfect word we would always make the recruits adopt to our standards and not the other way around. The Navy tried this facial hair experiment during the Vietnam Era, then decide to end the experiment.

It’s in this vein that I admire the Marines. When they say; The Few and the Proud, they really mean it. The Marines bring in just over 30,000 new assessments ever year. The Army on the other hand, needs at least 90,000 to break even. All of the services combined lose between 125 - 145,000 members to retirement or just leaving the service. So the Marines have higher recruiting standards and can afford to instill more discipline during Boot Camp. I’ve never seen a post from a Marine asking why they can’t put their hands in their pockets or grow beards . . . . Just saying.

Join SF--go into combat areas--live off the grid and on Special Ops. You can grow a beard to fit in.

Bugs except if you are a ranger or CIA.

Does anyone in senior leadership (flag officer) really stop to consider how many good people simply pass on the military because of "standards" that don't seem to do anything of use.
It's nice seeing the O3s-O6s here putting forth valid reasons to both keep and revise/remove the standards, but it's disheartening to see all the enlisted leaders blindly parrot the standards because "it's professional" and "because I said so/it's always been this way"

You can grow a beard, any time you want. Just leave the Military... problem solved. Remember: YOU volunteered to serve your Country, you're not a conscript or draftee. If the make-it-or-break-it for you is something silly as a beard, then don't re-enlist. Service to your Nation isn't for you...

Let's face it; this country has become a JOKE not only to those of us who have served / are from this country but to the World as well. I have a personal friend of mine that lives in Europe who is former Spetznaz, who just can't believe how "Weird & Depraved" the US has become. "Diversity-Multiculturalism & Political Correctness" have destroyed this nation! As far as the Beard & Tattoo Question goes, the only people in the US Military that get a "free-pass" to wear them are muslims, blacks and tribal types. The rest of us Caucasian and Asian Americans can't!

A Gas mask wont seal with a beard. I would not want to take the chance with some of the nerve agents available today. Just my 2 cents worth.

I was in the Navy at a time when you could grow beards. It was never an issue. If you could get a seal on a gass madk and kept the length under the standard. No problems. Can't see why they can't allow it.