Policy follows years of public comments on troop appearance
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth directed military commanders in a September speech at Quantico, Virginia, to enforce appearance standards that ban beards and long hair, describing the policy as an end to “superficial individual expression,” according to a CNN report described by The Guardian. “No more beards, long hair, superficial individual expression,” Hegseth said, according to the report. “We’re going to cut our hair, shave our beards and adhere to standards. No more beardos.”
The directive escalated Hegseth’s long-running focus on troop appearance. In the same address, the defense secretary told commanders it was “tiring” having to look at “fat troops,” according to the report.
CNN reported that Hegseth became frustrated after boarding a Navy ship and observing several sailors with beards, leading him to question whether the “Pentagon rank-and-file paid attention to his beard policy and other policy changes he has made to the workforce.”
The policy follows years of public commentary from Hegseth on facial hair and military appearance. In 2018, while still a Fox News host, Hegseth grew a beard during a summer vacation, according to the report. After receiving critical viewer mail — one woman, identified only as Patti, urged him to get the “fur” off his face, and a viewer identified as Mary bemoaned that “all American cute” Pete now looked “awful” — Hegseth’s beard was shaved off by a barber live on daytime television as his co-hosts laughed. “A man without a beard is like a lion without a mane,” a viewer identified as Michael commiserated. “That’s how I feel!” Hegseth responded, according to the account.
The defense secretary now appears clean-shaven. His appearance policy applies to the entire U.S. military under the newly renamed “Department of War.”