HAIRY DEBATE

Tattooed Hegseth Is Going After Beards in the Military With Grooming Standards Review

The defense secretary, on an ongoing mission to cancel DEI policies, has set his sights on beards.

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has ordered a review of the military’s grooming standards—and he wants his generals to look very closely at beards.

In a memo to senior military leaders, Hegseth asked for a review of all fitness, body composition, and grooming standards going back to January 2015, “which includes but is not limited to beards.”

Hegseth says the review is necessary for “maintaining the standards that enable the men and women of our military to protect the American people and our homeland as the world’s most lethal and effective fighting force.”

“This review will illuminate how the Department has maintained the level of standards required over the recent past and the trajectory of any change in those standards,” Hegseth added.

Hegseth is on a mission to remove and cancel all diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) content and policies at the Defense Department, which may suggest why beards are mentioned in the memo.

Beards are generally not admitted in the U.S. military, although exemptions are made for those with medical or religious reasons, and different branches of the military have different policies.

The Air Force updated its dress policy in 2019 during President Donald Trump’s first term to include turbans, beards, and hijabs, allowing Sikhs and Muslims to serve while abiding by the practices of their faith.

Grooming and appearance restrictions were also modified under the Biden administration in 2021, under a directive “to improve the wellbeing of all soldiers.”

Hegseth, a former Army National Guard officer who was deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan, has previously been criticized for his appearance.

He has several tattoos on his arms and chest, some of which commentators say evoke ideas of militant Christianity common among far-right communities.

Sen. Kevin Cramer (R-ND) asked about these tattoos at Hegseth’s confirmation hearing in January, saying, apparently sarcastically, “What is this very offensive, extremist, racist tattoo that you have?”

Hegseth said his chest tattoo is the “Jerusalem Cross, a historic Christian symbol.”

He said his tattoos prevented him from serving at President Joe Biden’s inauguration as a National Guardsman, claiming he was identified as an “extremist, someone unworthy of guarding the inauguration of an incoming American president.”

Hegseth’s memo on grooming standards does not mention tattoos.

The Department of Defense had no comment for the Daily Beast when asked whether tattoos are included in the review or if they would be in the future.

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