The old adage is true: Ask (and ask and ask and ask) and you shall receive.
The Army is in the midst of a study to determine whether it can safely allow soldiers to wear beards, multiple officials have confirmed to Army Times.
Soldiers have been discussing the idea behind closed doors and in open forums for years, but the push to research the possibilities and make a decision really picked up earlier this year, according to the Army G-1 uniform policy sergeant major.
“It’s more driven from the religious accommodations group,” said Sgt. Maj. Anthony Moore, referring to a working group that made the recommendations that informed the Army’s authorization of beards for Sikh men in uniform.
“Soldiers would ask here and there, but it’s gained traction since the Army directive for religious accommodations,” he said in a Feb. 28 phone interview.
When the working group convened last year to talk beards and turbans, officials expanded the conversation to include hijabs and dreadlocks, Sergeant Major of the Army Dan Dailey told Army Times earlier this year. Those accommodations were all later authorized in a new directive.
“They said, okay, if we’re going to do religious accommodations, we have to be inclusive,” Dailey said in a January interview.
That discussion led to the idea of allowing beards in general.
“I’m not opposed to having a beard,” Dailey said. “I’ve socialized this with several people, including [Army Chief of Staff Gen. Mark Milley] — how do we do that to maintain standards? I think that we have to continue that study.”
Once the study is complete, the results will be discussed by Dailey’s senior enlisted counsel and briefed to the chief of staff of the Army.
If leadership decides to go forward, an update to AR 670-1 would eventually have to be signed off by the secretary of the Army.
“Authorizing the wear of beards in the Army, in addition to approved religious accommodations policy, is a topic that soldiers have inquired about recently across the force,” Dailey said March 2 in a follow-up statement. “As of now, there are no plans to change the policy. Army leaders and researchers are currently reviewing the wear of beards by soldiers in the Army. Any potential change in policy will be made with careful consideration to the professionalism, standards, discipline, readiness and safety of all of our soldiers.”
More at link.
