'No beards' policy remains priority for Pentagon

S1: Welcome in San Diego , it's Jade Hindman. On today's show , critics say the new shaving policy for the military is racist. So what's the impact of the policy? This is KPBS Midday Edition. Connecting our communities through conversation. Recent policy changes from the Pentagon show senior leadership are prioritizing grooming standards , especially when it comes to shaving. KPBS , KPBS military reporter Andrew Dyer says new shaving rules disproportionately threaten the careers of black men in uniform.

S2: New Pentagon rules are targeting troops with shaving waivers , sometimes called shave profiles. Since the 1980s , most men in uniform have been required to be clean shaven. That means a close shave every morning. But for a lot of men , that's just not possible. Multiple studies have shown a condition called pseudo folliculitis. Barbet or FB can affect up to 80% of black people. Doctor Swati Cannon is a dermatologist at UC San Diego.

S3: Pseudo folliculitis barbet FB is actually a very common condition.

S2: The condition affects people with coarse and curly facial hair. After shaving , their hair regrowth into their skin. Doctor Canon's concerned service members could harm themselves by shaving just to stay in the military. That could have long term consequences.

S3: It can cause severe disfigurement , scarring , sometimes keloid scarring that requires that require surgery to remove. And it can be pretty not only cosmetically disfiguring , but can also be symptomatic and painful. And so in that patient population , it's it's a huge deal.

S2: Service members with the condition can be exempted from shaving every day. A 2023 Air Force study found 65% of people with shaving profiles were black. What can I say? It's a sweltering summer afternoon at the Cutting Edge barber shop on El Cajon Boulevard. Owner Tony Gannaway invites me in to enjoy the air conditioning. He's familiar with military grooming standards. He's cut hair up and down the ranks.

S4: Throughout the years , I've cut so many military clients that if you are an E-5 and under , I sometimes know your job better than yourself.

S2: Gannaway has been a licensed barber for almost 20 years and owned his own shop since 2013. He's also black. He says he doesn't shave because if he did , he'd also struggle with.

S4: People that do not have those issues. They don't know what it feels like to have your face felt like it's on fire. It's itching , you know?

S5: It's it all depends.

S4: When when it's at its worst , it's almost like a cat just gnawing at your skin at all times. And it's something that makes it even hard to even focus.

S2: So what's behind the changes at the Pentagon? An August 2025 memo instructs leaders to start kicking out anyone with a shave profile that lasts longer than 12 months. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth brought it up during his speech to military leaders in September.

S6: The era of unprofessional appearance is over. No more beards. The era of rampant and ridiculous shaving profiles is done.

S2: This summer , there's been renewed emphasis on the issue. Each branch is out with its own policies on the shaving waivers. Troops are to undergo treatment in three months. Blocks if issued an exemption if they're unable to shave daily after 12 months. Commanders are to process them for administrative separation. The waivers aren't uncommon across the military for black men.

S7: It's not an unusual thing. When I was on active duty. We always would have Marines who had shaved wafers.

S2: Attorney Bob Muth was a judge advocate general in the Marines. A military lawyer today , he's a law professor and the vice dean at the University of San Diego School of Law.

S7: I think what's unusual about this is the the severity or importance of this just seems minimal. Clearly , there will be a severe disparate impact on African-American servicemembers. They make up the vast majority of shave waivers.

S2: Doctor cannon says the military's treatment plan is flawed. There's no cure for CFB.

S3: It's not a problem. We know with hygiene or it's not a problem with medications. It's really a biology problem. So the biology is curly hair that re-enters the skin because of shaving. The cure is to not shave.

S2: Gannaway , the barber , says there are things to do to minimize the effects , like using hot towels and never shaving hair down to the skin.

S4: First thing I recommend for a person with sensitive skin that has to shave is using only the trimmers , getting close down to the skin , as well as using what's called a shaver and not a razor.

S2: You think's a legal challenge based on racial discrimination is unlikely to be successful. He envisions a more subtle solution.

S7: I think what you'll see is a lot of service members trying to do everything they can to kind of stall the process , and it's also possible that a different secretary will come along who will have a different view. On the importance of beards. It seems like this is something that uniquely important to Secretary Hegseth.

S2: Pentagon leadership might be aware of this just this month , and ordered Navy commanders to submit monthly reports on each person with a shaving waiver.

S1: I'm joined now by KPBS military and veteran affairs reporter Andrew Dyer. Andrew , welcome back to midday.

S2: Hey , thanks for having me.

S1: Quite the story here. So what got you looking into it?

S2: Well , this has been kind of an ongoing thing with Secretary Hegseth. Um , but this summer , um , he kind of put a new emphasis on on the issue. Some reporting from CNN suggests that he visited a couple of Navy ships , one of them here in San Diego back in May , and wasn't happy when he saw a lot of sailors with , um , shaving profiles and , uh , went back to DC and , and then a bunch of emails went back and forth from leaders saying , we gotta , we gotta tighten this up.

S1: So on. It's an ongoing thing with him. What is an ongoing thing with him? Exactly.

S2: So , um , it kind of started. Well , it started back when he was a Fox News host. He used to complain about the appearance of troops and what they should or shouldn't look like. But in last September , he summoned almost every admiral in general in the military to Quantico , Virginia , and talked about , you know , wait , he said he was tired of seeing fat troops. Um , and part of that was , as you heard in the in the piece , um , what he called beards or people with , with shaving waivers. Um.

S1: So many questions. Is there a strategic. Is there any strategy behind his fixation on appearance.

S2: Well , they're.

S1: Just going to ask it just , you know.

S8: There's a little bit of , um.

S2: One thing that the military has long done that justified their. Their shaving grooming standard is that , um , you know , get a better seal on a gas mask in the case of a chemical or nuclear biological attack. That's kind of the official reason for it. But , um , the science indebted , I don't know if it really supports that. There are people with beards who use masks all the time and other fields , and they are still with us , so I'm not sure.

S1: Not sure. Okay , well , I know somebody's got to know this , but what other appearance related policies is Hegseth pushing for?

S8: Well , he did.

S2: Change some of the the PT standards physical training where he wants gender neutral standards. He wants everybody to meet the same , same standard of physical fitness. And , um , you know , he wants everybody to PT , RP every day. So he wants to make sure everybody's. Exercising. He wants , uh , he wants slim trim profiles and clean shaven faces.

S1: Slim and trim. Okay , as we heard , you went to a local barber shop and got a sense of how this is impacting military clients here. Did you hear anything about how they're navigating these new standards?

S8: Well , so far , because they haven't actually started.

S2: Kicking anyone out. But from what I can tell , just anecdotally from what the barber told me was , you know , people are just trying to keep a low profile , right? Like , you know , we're just going to keep going. And then whenever they have to deal with it , they'll they'll deal with it. But they've got , you know , 12 months of having these , these waivers before any administrative paperwork starts happening. So , um , the ideas , you know , run off the clock.

S1: You know , you mentioned that appearance has been a big focus of headsets , really , since his Fox News days as a host he's recently pushed for his , you know , this image of American and of what an American warrior should look like. How do grooming standards fit into that image? And and really , more broadly , what is , in his mind supposed to be the American warrior , if you could?

S2: You know , I don't I don't really know. Um , what I mean , I'm not I can't get into Pete Hex head. Right. But , you know , he's written books. He's talked a lot. And when he was on on Fox News , um , he just has a very , I mean , I don't know , a very superficial idea of what people in the military should look like. And that doesn't include maybe sometimes women and it doesn't include trans people , and , um , it doesn't include people whose body types are outside of this. Um , I don't know , this television , uh , Norm , where , you know , if your belly sticks out further than your waist , you know , even if you're within tape standards , which the military has , uh , he just doesn't like the way it looks. And it seems to be really important to him how people look. Mhm.

S1: Um , how much does race have to do with this? Well , we obviously know how the shaving um policy disproportionately impacts people. But but more broadly , how much does race have to do with these new policies.

S2: Well , by itself , there's this plausible deniability , right where you say it's a health and welfare , um , issue. And this is what they are saying , right? That this is about , you know , um , keeping people healthy and maintaining , you know , that. But , you know , in totality , when you look at other things that are happening , um , people of color being denied promotions , being withheld from promotions , women and people of color being being fired from leadership positions. Um , it's it's tough not to not to draw other conclusions whenever. I mean , here's the thing. I was , you know , I was in the Navy. Um , everybody knows that a lot of the the the black dudes have waivers , like , this is just normal , everyday military stuff. Yeah , because this condition that you can't do anything about , everybody knows it , and you kind of accept it. And it's just a normal part of being in the military. And , um , for it to be made , this issue where you're going to end people's careers because of something that you have , no , they have no control over. Um , it just doesn't it doesn't feel fair. And , um , you know , by by couching it as a health issue , you can you can say it's kind of like asthma. Like we don't let people with asthma in regardless. But this is another , uh , health condition.

S1: You know , is is there anything that didn't make it into the story or that surprised you in your reporting? Yeah.

S2: Yeah. Whenever we published the story online , I was looking for a photo to use , and a the. The Pentagon has this website called DVDs where they push all their photos and videos out. And just a few days ago , on August 19th , they published this whole gallery of the the demonstrating proper shaving techniques. And it was mostly , um , except for one soldier. It was a bunch of black soldiers demonstrating how to shave. Uh , here's a razor with a lubricating strip. Oh , here's a single bladed razor. Oh , here , use this oil on your skin. And it was just photos of black men shaving. And one of them was a close up of a guy shaving his neck. And he clearly had FB. And I just looked at that photo , and I'm like , this has got to hurt like it. Just so I think the Pentagon is aware of of what critics are saying about the policy , and they are just kind of insisting that this is about technique and shaving properly when there is no safe way to shave. If you have FB , there's just like the like , Doctor Kennon said the cure is not to shave.

S1: You know , this push for for shaving , though , comes amid ongoing challenges in the U.S. and Iran war. What does this say about priorities?

S2: Well , you know , I mean , the military is this huge organization. You know , they should be able to do multiple things at once , right? You run a Navy , you run an army. These are very different things. You should be able to execute different priorities. So I think that it's it's fine when everything else is fine. But if you are engaged in , you know , controversial airstrikes against drug boats in the Caribbean , and then you are engaged in a war with Iran , and you've got troops out to sea for nine months and a huge public relations kind of issue there with keeping ships out for so long. Um , and then you take time out of all of that this summer to tell , you know , the Navy. Hey , every single commanding officer needs to send us a report every single month on everybody who has a shaving waiver. It just it looks a little differently in that context. Yeah.

S1: Yeah. Certainly does something with the optics there. I've been speaking with KPBS military and veteran affairs reporter Andrew Dyer , and you can find his full story on KPBS. Andrew , thank you so much for your reporting. As always.

S2: Thanks for having me , as always.

S1: That's our show for today. I'm your host , Jade Hindman. Thanks for tuning in to Midday Edition. Be sure to have a great day on purpose , everyone.