Shave or Separate: New Pentagon Policy Limits Medical Waivers to 12 Months

Unit commanders are being told to separate service members who can’t shave their cheeks and chin for medical reasons for more than a year in new guidance from Secretary of War Pete Hegseth.

“Unit commanders will initiate separation of service members who require a shaving waiver after more than 1 year of medical treatment,” Hegseth wrote in an Aug. 20 memo for senior military leadership that was included in a Sept. 15 press release. 

“The grooming standard set by the U.S. military is to be clean shaven and neat in presentation for a proper military appearance,” Hegseth said in the release, which marks the latest in a series of policy changes restricting facial hair in the ranks. 

Under the new policy, military medical providers recommend to the commander whether a service member should receive a shaving waiver. If the waiver is approved, they will start a medical treatment plan, but commanders will separate them if they require a waiver after more than a year of treatment. The new guidance does not apply to accommodations granted for religious reasons.

The Pentagon press office did not immediately respond when asked how many service members might be affected by the policy, though Military.com previously reported nearly 20,000 Airmen and about 300 Guardians held medical shaving waivers in 2023.

For decades, U.S. military leaders have banned beards, arguing they look unprofessional and they interfere with the seal of a gas mask or oxygen mask—though the science on that latter point is not settled. Other NATO militaries such as Canada, Germany, and Norway allow beards, and even some NATO fighter pilots sport them.

U.S. Airmen are allowed to grow beards if they receive a religious exemption or a medical waiver for conditions such as pseudofolliculitis barbae, also known as PFB or razor bumps, a skin condition caused by ingrown hairs that makes shaving painful and can lead to scarring if skin is not given a chance to heal. PFB is especially prevalent among Black men, who studies show are more likely to have it than other groups.

From 2020 to 2024, the Air Force repealed policies that had barred bearded Airmen and Guardians from serving in some positions, and the service began issuing five-year waivers—previous waivers had to be renewed annually.

The moves were meant in part to counteract a longstanding stigma against neatly kept beards that military dermatologists said was informed by decades of policy.

In a 2021 study on promotions and shaving waivers, military dermatologists concluded the policy against beards was not inherently racist, but because it created a bias against beards, it would “likely always affect the promotions of Blacks/African-Americans disproportionately because of the relatively higher need for shaving waivers in this population.”

Fast forward to 2025, and a military dermatologist, granted anonymity because he was not authorized to speak publicly, told Air & Space Forces Magazine that the new policy would have a similar effect.

“The majority of these [PFB] cases are not curable by any other means than not shaving, so if we decide to separate members who cannot closely shave, that will disproportionately affect our Black Soldiers, Marines, Airmen, and Sailors,” the dermatologist said.

Instances of documented PFB among male service members increased from 2000 to 2022, according to data gathered by the Military Health System. Black troops had by far the highest number of cases, but white and Hispanic troops also saw increases after 2020. That could suggest the policy changes led to more service members seeking treatment.

Yet the policy pendulum has swung the other way in 2025. In January, the Air Force rolled out a suite of new grooming standards, including an effort to help medical providers distinguish between PFB and shaving irritation, which can be avoided and treated with proper shaving technique and topical steroids.

Air Force Surgeon General Lt. Gen. John J. DeGoes said at the time that extended duration shaving profiles are generally reserved for severe cases of PFB, “while mild-to-moderate cases may benefit from more frequent management, follow-ups, and temporary shaving profiles.”

The Air Force called on all Airmen with a medical shaving waiver to be reevaluated by a health care provider, otherwise their waivers would expire. An anonymous health care provider told Air & Space Forces Magazine at the time that the policy would place a heavy administrative burden on providers to schedule all those appointments, and the provider doubted it would yield much change in providers’ diagnoses.

In July, the Army introduced a policy eliminating permanent shaving waivers and separating Soldiers who held a waiver for 12 months during a two-year period. An Army spokesperson said at the time that the policy was an attempt to regain “control of our standard when it came to being clean shaven,” according to Task & Purpose, which also reported that more than 40,000 Soldiers had waivers in 2024. 

The Marines rolled out a similar policy in March, shortly after Hegseth announced a military-wide review of physical fitness, body composition, and grooming standards.