{"id":12856,"date":"2017-12-01T22:28:20","date_gmt":"2017-12-01T22:28:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/armytimes\/uncategorized\/2017\/12\/01\/sma-no-final-decision-on-beards-for-all-soldiers\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T01:28:24","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T01:28:24","slug":"sma-no-final-decision-on-beards-for-all-soldiers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/armytimes\/news\/your-army\/2017\/12\/01\/sma-no-final-decision-on-beards-for-all-soldiers\/","title":{"rendered":"SMA: No final decision on beards for all soldiers"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Just as 2017 kicked off, then-Army Secretary Eric Fanning signed a directive to authorize beards for Sikh soldiers, a change years in the making.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The move begged the question: If the Army says it\u2019s safe for Sikhs to wear beards, what about everyone else?<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Following the January directive, the Army continued to study the effectiveness of the standard gas mask. And Task and Purpose <a href=\"http:\/\/taskandpurpose.com\/army-beards-soldiers\/\" class=\"\" title=\"\">reported<\/a> in late November that the Army had decided not to go ahead with beards.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">But according to Sergeant Major of the Army Dan Dailey, new Army Secretary Mark Esper has not made a final decision one way or another.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">As such, Dailey said, he declined to comment further on the issue.<\/p>\n\n\n\t<aside class=\"smg-interstitial-link wp-block-smg-interstitial-link\">\n\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/armytimes\/news\/your-army\/2017\/01\/05\/new-army-policy-oks-soldiers-to-wear-hijabs-turbans-and-religious-beards\/\" class=\"smg-interstitial-link__inner\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"smg-interstitial-link__media\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"300\" height=\"195\" src=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/arm-uniform-turban.JPG.jpg?w=300\" class=\"smg-interstitial-link__image wp-post-image\" alt=\"\" \/>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"smg-interstitial-link__content\">\n\t\t\t\t<span class=\"smg-interstitial-link__kicker\">Related<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t<h3 class=\"smg-interstitial-link__title\">New Army policy OKs soldiers to wear hijabs, turbans and religious beards<\/h3>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p class=\"smg-interstitial-link__excerpt\">Observant Sikhs and conservative Muslims are officially able to wear religious head coverings and beards, thanks to a directive issued  Tuesday that updates the Army&#039;s grooming and appearance regulations.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/a>\n\t<\/aside>\n\t\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Back in late 2016, the Army Research Lab tested the effectiveness of the M50 Joint Service Gas Mask on men with beards or who had long hair underneath a turban, and women in hijabs. After the January directive, they continued to study beards, Dailey told Army Times at the time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cI\u2019m not opposed to having a beard,\u201d Dailey said then. \u201cI\u2019ve socialized this with several people, including [Army Chief of Staff Gen. Mark Milley] \u2014 how do we do that to maintain standards? I think that we have to continue that study.\u201d<br><\/p>\n\n\n\t<aside class=\"smg-interstitial-link wp-block-smg-interstitial-link\">\n\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/armytimes\/news\/your-army\/2017\/03\/05\/the-army-could-let-soldiers-grow-beards-no-seriously\/\" class=\"smg-interstitial-link__inner\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"smg-interstitial-link__media\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"300\" height=\"210\" src=\"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/arm-beards-1.jpg.jpg?w=300\" class=\"smg-interstitial-link__image wp-post-image\" alt=\"\" \/>\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"smg-interstitial-link__content\">\n\t\t\t\t<span class=\"smg-interstitial-link__kicker\">Related<\/span>\n\t\t\t\t<h3 class=\"smg-interstitial-link__title\">The Army could let soldiers grow beards. No, seriously.<\/h3>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p class=\"smg-interstitial-link__excerpt\">The old adage is true: Ask (and ask and ask and ask) and you shall receive.<\/p>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<\/a>\n\t<\/aside>\n\t\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The issue of beards is very popular among soldiers, and it\u2019s a topic that often comes up when senior leaders visit troops at various installations across the country.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Dailey told Army Times in March that any decision on beards would be made very deliberately.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cAny potential change in policy will be made with careful consideration to the professionalism, standards, discipline, readiness and safety of all of our soldiers,\u201d Dailey said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Beards are one of many issues in limbo now, as the service spent the year transitioning from an Obama-era acting Army secretary, to an undersecretary serving as acting secretary, to now a Trump administration appointee settling into the job.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">After a lengthy confirmation process, Esper was sworn in as Army secretary on Nov. 20.<br><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">For now, beards are still authorized for special operations soldiers and those with waivers, including Sikhs.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Those soldiers are not permitted to serve in Chemical, Biological, Radiological, Nuclear and Explosive units. In other instances, it\u2019s up to a commander\u2019s discretion whether a Sikh must shave, for instance, when deployed to an area with a significant chemical attack threat.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>When the Army authorized beards for Sikh soldiers, a change years in the making, the move begged the question: If the Army says it\u2019s safe for Sikhs to wear beards, what about everyone else?<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":29614,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-noindex":"","_yoast_wpseo_meta-robots-nofollow":"","_yoast_wpseo_canonical":"","_acf":"","_yoast_wpseo_primary_category":70,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","_smg_distribution_targets":[]},"categories":[100,12,25,70],"tags":[],"coauthors":[3301],"class_list":["post-12856","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-daily-news-roundup","category-news","category-newsletters","category-your-army"],"acf":{"subheadline":"","legacy_arc_id":"OC6XT5MBHNCKFNDV6EOVL7FOZM","arc_canonical_url":"\/news\/your-army\/2017\/12\/01\/sma-no-final-decision-on-beards-for-all-soldiers\/","remove_feature_photo":false,"is_sponsored":false,"subtype":"","redirect_url":"","disable_inline_ads":false,"native_logo_pretext":"Presented 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