Marine Corps Commandant Gen. Eric Smith has some bad news for any Marines who want to grow beards.
When asked on Wednesday if he could foresee any circumstances in the coming years under which Marines would be allowed to grow beards, Smith replied with a definitive “No.”
“Because we’re Marines and we’re different,” Smith told reporters at a Defense Writers Group event, which is based at George Washington University in Washington, D.C., and funded by the Carnegie Corporation of New York.
“The Marine Corps has a brand, and we’re making our recruiting mission,” Smith continued. “We’ve always made our recruiting mission, and what we don’t want to do is tinker with the ethos of the Marine Corps — you joined us, we didn’t join you. You knew that coming in. You signed up. We don’t have beards, and you knew that coming in.”
The Corps currently has a waiver process for Marines with pseudofolliculitis barbae, a painful condition known as “razor bumps” in which facial hair curves back into the skin, causing inflammation. The condition, which is exacerbated by shaving, is a common problem in up to 60% of Black men, according to the American Osteopathic College of Dermatology.
“That’s a medical waiver, not a fashion waiver,” Smith told reporters at a Defense Writers Group breakfast “It’s not a ‘well, I decided I wanted to;’ it’s a medical waiver that’s for pseudofolliculitis barbae.”
Whether or not service members should be allowed to grow beards has long been debated. U.S. military officials have argued that facial hair prevents troops from having a perfect seal on the gas and oxygen masks. This has not stopped other countries, such as Great Britain, from allowing its troops to have beards.
In 1970, sailors were allowed to grow beards, mustaches and sideburns, but the Navy reinstated its ban on beards in 1984. Then-Navy Secretary John Lehman said at the time that master chiefs had complained that beards made the Navy look “extremely un-uniform.”
More recently, the Fiscal Year 2025 National Defense Authorization Act has required Air Force leaders to brief Congress on a possible pilot program that would allow airmen and Space Force guardians to grow beards.
Earlier this month, Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. David Allvin announced that the service would hold more formations in uniform as part of a broader review of standards that will look at “waivers and the exceptions.”
While the Marine Corps has no plans to allow the rank-and-file to have beards, Smith said on Wednesday that he plans to grow one after he retires.
“I’m going to try one out,” Smith said. “But I will be retired, so I won’t have to deal with a gas mask.”
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