US forces face close shave as Pete Hegseth steps up his war on beards

Things are getting hairy in the US military.Secretary of War Pete Hegseth was stunned to find during a recent visit to a US Navy ship that American forces had been flouting a new Pentagon grooming policy, CNN reported Friday.Hegseth issued a memo this past September restricting most service members from having beards — but several sailors who greeted the secretary weren’t bare-faced, as expected.That prompted meetings at the Pentagon to discuss the implementation of Hegseth’s war on what he had called “rampant and ridiculous shaving profiles.”“Want to bring to your attention that the SecWar is paying close attention to the progress of the EEO [Equal Employment Opportunity] reforms,” one defense official dealing with civilian personnel policy wrote in a June email.“In fact, the push is to move faster … there is a need to revamp some of our timelines,” the email stated.It’s unclear which ship prompted the redoubling of shaving efforts, though Hegseth was aboard the USS Boxer in Singapore in May and the USS Carl Vinson in San Diego in June.“Secretary Hegseth maintains the highest expectations for our service members to uphold the professional standards of appearance, fitness, and discipline that define our warfighting force, and he continues to emphasize consistent enforcement of hair, weight, and grooming standards across all ranks,” said chief Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell in a statement.“Commanders at every level are expected to lead by example by meeting these standards, implementing these requirements, and they will be held accountable for delivering results as the Department works to restore a culture of excellence and readiness.Our Armed Forces are stronger when every service member meets and exceeds these expectations.”Hegseth ordered a review of military grooming expectations in March 2025, prompting service branches to later restrict medical waivers for unshaven troops.“No more beardos,” the secretary declared in a Sept.

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