Airmen and Guardians Must Undergo Gas Mask Seal Tests as Part of Shaving Crackdown

The Department of the Air Force is giving Airman and Guardians until the end of the year to meet new requirements for ensuring they achieve a proper protective mask seal, part of Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s crackdown on unauthorized facial hair.

The Department of the Air Force released instructions for Air Force and Space Force squadron-level unit commanders to appoint “mask fit validation monitors” that are trained to oversee protective mask seal testing, according to an Air Force tasking order posted Aug. 25 on the popular but unofficial Air Force amn/nco/snco Facebook page.

The service released guidance on the directive in a July 27 memo updating the Department of the Air Force Instruction on its Chemical, Biological, Radiological, Nuclear Defense Program, an Air Force official told Air & Space Forces Magazine Aug. 26.

“Every Airman and Guardian, including Air National Guard and Air Force Reserve members, must complete two new CBRN defense requirements … by Dec. 31, 2026,” the Air Force official said.

“The requirements are [to be] completed in order. First is the CBRN Defense Foundations Course, an annual web-based course taken through DAF e-Learning. Second is the mask validation, or negative pressure check, done in person with the unit mask fit validation monitor.”

The Air Force official added that the changes “align with the Secretary of War’s guidance titled ‘Grooming Standards for Facial Hair Implementation,’ and reinforce how these skills are critical not only for defense against CBRN threats, but also for other hazardous mission sets where respiratory protection may be required.”

Both requirements will then transition to annual requirements for Airmen and Guardians, according to the official.

Both the Navy and Marine Corps have also released similar guidance directing that all Sailors and Marines conduct annual protective mask seal testing, Task & Purpose reported.

The new guidance comes just short of a year after Hegseth told hundreds of U.S. military leaders he intended to impose stringent new grooming standards across the force aimed at beards, goatees, and other facial hair that could interfere with a proper seal on a chemical protective mask or firefighter respirator.

For service members with medical shaving profiles, Hegseth directed that all waivers be limited to 12 months and those with permanent conditions be evaluated for separation. Hegseth also directed that service members who wear beards under religious accommodations be reevaluated under the pre-2010 appearance standards that generally do not authorize facial hair waivers.

Hegseth’s memo also states that “noncompliant personnel—due to refusal, exemption denial, or failed tests—will be flagged as nondeployable in the appropriate Military Service personnel system. Repeated noncompliance may result in administrative separation.”

Airmen and Guardians can still wear mustaches and sideburns, but the services tightened regulations last fall to ensure they allow for a proper mask seal.

Airmen’s mustaches “must not go beyond the corners of the mouth or into a respirator seal zone,” according to an Oct. 29 memorandum updating portions of the Air Force regulations on dress and personal appearance.

The new guidance also takes a slightly stricter stance on sideburns. Airmen and Guardians had been authorized to wear sideburns that extended to the “bottom of the orifice of the ear opening,” according to a July 2025 policy update. The new policy dictates that sideburns “will be above the ear opening.”