The Army has revised the grooming standards addressing the impact of grooming on females in this service branch. A special panel made up of soldiers from across the service representing all ranks, units, ages, career fields, age, and races making up the Army met to review proposed grooming and appearance modifications in 2020. Army senior leaders approved the modifications in December 2020 that take effect in late February 24, pending an Army memo to be sent out Sgt. Maj. Brian Sanders, Army G-1, Uniform Policy Branch sergeant major shared.
The panel included psychologists and dermatologists to make changes in standards for females, noting that Soldiers are not Soldiers 24/7 and have roles outside of the Army.
Hairstyle standard changes for females that will be authorized are:
- No minimum hair length for female Soldiers – a change from the minimum hair length of ¼ inch
- Allow for multiple hairstyles at once – meaning braiding, twisting, or locs can be worn all at once
- Short and long ponytails allowed instead of a bun
- Long Ponytails allowed for Soldiers during physical fitness training and with the Army Combat Uniform (ACU), during tactical training where they are required to wear a helmet; Soldiers will be required to tuck long ponytails into the ACU blouse
- Highlights allowed as long as it presents as a uniform and natural appearance; the colors of purple, blue, pink, green, orange, bright red, fluorescent or neon colors are prohibited
Other grooming changes that will be authorized:
- Option to wear gold, silver, and diamond earrings while Female Soldiers are wearing the ACU
- Solid lip and non-extreme nail colors for female Soldiers
- Clear nail polish for male Soldiers
These changes in approved hairstyles stem from medical considerations as tight hairstyles can lead to conditions of the scalp to include hair loss, and tight buns prevent properly wearing the helmet allowing for full visual fields for females while wearing the gear. Female soldiers are currently able to wear earrings with service and dress uniforms, and these changes allow for the earrings to be worn with all uniforms. However, pearl earrings are still only authorized with the service and dress uniforms.
Extreme colors such as purple, gold, black, blue, white, fire-engine red, hot pink, yellow, and other neon colors will not be allowed for lip or nail polish colors for female Soldiers in uniform. The addition of the allowance of clear nail polish for male soldiers allows for men working in specialties that are in contact with harsh chemicals to protect the nails.
The grooming updates will be included in the next update to the AR 670-1, Wear and Appearance of Army Uniforms and Insignia.
I am a retired US Air Force Chief Master Sergeant (E-9) with over 30-years on active duty. I have pretty much seen it all; not everything, but now I’m getting a lot closer to seeing it all…
I knew it would happen, the ink on the Army regulation (AR 670-1) is not even dry yet and the new Pony Tail hair lengths are being totally ignored. Today (26 Mar 2021) while shopping at COSTCO, Newport News, VA. I saw two female soldiers, one a Corporal, shopping while wearing Battle Dress Uniforms (BDU) and the Corporal was sporting a beautiful full length Pony Tail that went half way down her back, way below her armpits. Fort Eustis is only a few mile away so I suppose that they are stationed there. I’ve seen this so many times over the years that the supervisors, Noncommissioned Officers, and even the Officers just look the other way rather than risk being accused of “Misogyny.”
The moral is make your personnel obey the regulations. If they will not follow the simple, easy rules, they will never follow the difficult rules.
Keep your ear to the ground and your nose to the wind. As always — Aim High!
Chief
Update: today (April 6, 2021) at the Langley AFB, VA, Commissary, I was disheartened to see another example of “Pony Tails Gone Wild.” A female Air Force Senior Airman (E-4) had a pony tail that went at least half way down her back. The pony tail was held in place by a scrunchie that held her hair 3 to 4 inches out from the back of her head and that’s what kept her hair going only half way down her back. When she looked up at the upper shelves in the commissary and her head tilted back, her hair reached her waist. I had to ask her didn’t the regulation only allow the hair to reach somewhere near a horizontal line at her armpits and she told me, indignantly, that the hair length only applies when she reports to work and it is permitted to fall down during the duty day… (Yeah, right…) She was wearing a backpack that covered her nametag, and I wasn’t going to confront her any more, nor was I going to photograph her to send a photo to the Command Chief Master Sergeant (that might have gotten me in cahoots with the SPs and that’s down right creepy…). Besides, it’s not my job, it’s the supervisor’s, NCOs, Senior NCOs, and Officers who are not bothering to do the simple things (have your personnel follow the easy rules…), if not, they will never follow the difficult rules…
The moral is best displayed by Aesop’s Fable “The Bell and the Cat” ; where the moral is: “Ideas Are Good, But Execution Is Better!” Regulation are nice but only if followed and enforced…
Keep your ear to the ground and your nose to the wind. As always — Aim High!
Chief