Protection Secretary Pete Hegseth on Wednesday ordered a Pentagon-wide evaluate of the bodily health, physique composition and grooming requirements presently in place within the armed forces.
Hegseth’s directive comes after the Biden administration loosened restrictions on varied grooming and coiffure guidelines for army service members, in addition to physique fats share necessities for brand new recruits.
“Excessive requirements are what made the USA army the best combating power on the planet,” Hegseth wrote in a memo to senior Pentagon leaders, commanders of the combatant instructions and Division of Protection discipline exercise administrators.
“The energy of our army is our unity and our shared function,” the protection secretary added. “We’re made stronger and extra disciplined with excessive, uncompromising, and clear requirements.”
The evaluate shall be performed by the Pentagon’s beneath secretary of protection for personnel and readiness and can study the “present requirements set by the Navy Departments pertaining to bodily health, physique composition, and grooming, which incorporates however will not be restricted to beards,” in addition to how these requirements have modified during the last decade.
“The evaluate may also present perception on why these requirements modified and the impression of these modifications,” Hegseth mentioned. “The USD(P&R) has the authority to job the Secretaries of the Navy Departments and different DoD Part heads as crucial to offer any required data in help of this evaluate and can present detailed steering to the Navy Departments.”
“We should stay vigilant in sustaining the requirements that allow the women and men of our army to guard the American folks and our homeland because the world’ s most deadly and efficient combating power,” the Pentagon chief continued. “Our adversaries will not be rising weaker, and our duties will not be rising much less difficult.”
“This evaluate will illuminate how the Division has maintained the extent of requirements required over the latest previous and the trajectory of any change in these requirements.”
Every department of the army units its personal requirements for bodily health and physique composition and has necessary directions on the kind of haircuts and facial hair service members are permitted to take care of.
For instance, beards are usually banned from armed companies until members obtain a medical exemption or spiritual lodging.
Underneath the Biden administration, the Military relaxed varied grooming requirements – together with permitting girls to put on earrings and have hair highlights and dyes, and permitting males to put on nail polish – in an effort to be “extra numerous” and “inclusive.”
The Air Pressure, additionally throughout former President Joe Biden’s tenure, permitted new male recruits to have as much as 26% physique fats, up from the earlier requirement of 20%, whereas females have been allowed 36% physique fats, up from the earlier max of 28%.
Throughout a city corridor occasion for Pentagon staff final month, Hegseth famous that beneath the Trump administration the DOD would renew its deal with “primary stuff,” like grooming and health requirements.
“I’m not saying if you happen to violate grooming requirements, you’re a prison,” Hegseth mentioned. “The analogy is incomplete. However if you happen to violate the small stuff and also you enable it to occur, it creates a tradition the place the large stuff, you’re not held accountable for.”
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