The Pentagon on Monday published a memo from War Secretary Pete Hegseth that allows service members with medical shaving waivers to retain facial hair for up to one year while they follow a treatment plan, but reasserts a department-wide "clean-shaven" grooming standard and warns that personnel who do not resume shaving after the year may face separation.
In the Aug. 20 memo made public Monday, Hegseth wrote that "the Department must remain vigilant in maintaining the grooming standards which underpin the warrior ethos," and ordered leadership to conduct a review of how grooming standards have changed over the past decade. Chief Pentagon spokesperson Sean Parnell said commanders must "apply consistent criteria and appropriately consider the department's interests in safety and uniformity when authorizing individual exceptions."
The guidance applies to medical exemptions such as pseudofolliculitis barbae (PFB), a shaving-related skin condition that accounts for most waivers. Under the memo, troops granted a medical exemption may keep facial hair for one year while they pursue treatment; at the end of that period they must shave or face administrative separation. The memo did not specify whether longstanding allowances, such as mustaches, remain permitted.
The document also addressed appearance standards for female service members, defining authorized hairstyles and ponytail lengths and limiting nail polish to clear only. The memo did not address religious accommodations explicitly, a point that could affect service members with faith-based beard requirements.
The Army first began granting beard exemptions in 2017 after pressure from Sikh soldiers, who regard uncut facial hair as a religious requirement. Since then, some service members have sought to expand the policy on religious grounds. The memo comes amid a wider effort by Pentagon leadership to tighten and clarify grooming and uniform policies after a period of evolving practice across the services.
Hegseth’s office did not return a request for clarification on mustaches or how the new one-year limit will intersect with existing religious-accommodation processes. Past cases illustrate the limits of religious exemptions: a 2018 request by a soldier identifying as a Norse Pagan was approved, while a 2019 application by a soldier claiming membership in the Church of the Flying Spaghetti Monster was denied.
Pentagon officials said commanders will be required to review and document how grooming standards have changed over the last decade to ensure consistent application of the updated rules. The memo frames the changes as balancing individual medical needs and the department's interests in safety, uniformity and a professional military appearance.
The policy released Monday represents the latest formal guidance on appearance following years of incremental changes and case-by-case waivers across the services. Implementation details, including procedures for processing one-year medical waivers and oversight of commanders' decisions, are expected to be clarified by service leadership in follow-on guidance.