Hegseth orders about face on Pentagon's slipping grooming standards

The Pentagon unveiled a new overhaul of grooming standards to further ensure institution members are clean-shaven this week War Secretary Pete Hegseth has ordered that troops needing a healthcare exemption can retain facial hair for one year as long as they are following a plan to treat the condition After that they must remove facial hair or face separation The Department must remain vigilant in maintaining the grooming standards which underpin the warrior ethos Hegseth wrote in an Aug memo made populace on Monday Leadership will also be required to conduct a review of how grooming standards have changed over the last decade FEMALE MILITARY RECRUITS SURGE ACROSS ALL SYSTEM BRANCHES The grooming standard set by the U S military is to be clean-shaven and neat in presentation for a proper military appearance Hegseth announced according to the comment by Chief Pentagon spokesperson Sean Parnell Commanders must apply consistent criteria and appropriately consider the department's interests in safety and uniformity when authorizing individual exceptions Parnell added The memo did not mention whether troops would still be allowed to sport a mustache as they have been for decades Hegseth s office did not return a request for clarification in time for publication Largest part shaving waivers are for troops diagnosed with pseudofolliculitis barbae or PFB a condition where the hair curls back toward the skin after shaving and causes irritation HEGSETH TEARS UP RED TAPE ORDERS PENTAGON TO BEGIN DRONE SURGE AT TRUMP'S COMMANDHegseth s memo did not address religious accommodations The Army began granting beard exemptions in after pressure from Sikh soldiers for whom uncut facial hair is a religious requirement Specific troops soon tested the agenda s boundaries In one soldier won approval for a beard by claiming adherence to the Norse Pagan faith identifying himself as a Heathen CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APPIn Army Spc John Hoskins pushed the limits by applying for a religious exemption and claiming to belong to the Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster a faith known as Pastafarianism He was denied The Army broadcasted an update to its grooming standards this week also defining authorized hairstyles and ponytail lengths for female soldiers who are permitted to wear only clear nail polish