Congress wants the Air Force to examine the pros and cons of allowing airmen to grow beards, with a prospective April 1 deadline for the branch’s leadership to deliver findings to lawmakers.
The study, contained in an updated version of the National Defense Authorization Act expected to be voted on in the days ahead, could pave the way for a pilot program allowing airmen to grow facial hair.
On Saturday, the House and Senate reached a compromise that calls for a study on the merits of allowing beards in the Air Force ranks. An earlier House version of the bill had called for a pilot program allowing beards right away.
If passed, the bill will require the secretary of the Air Force to evaluate whether beards are compatible with an array of equipment worn by airmen, including masks that require airtight seals.
Other factors to be considered include an assessment of the effect of beard growth on discipline, morale and unity.
Currently, beards are prohibited in the Air Force except for approved religious exceptions and medical waivers related to a painful condition known as pseudofolliculitis barbae, or razor bumps.
Air Force leaders also should identify any negative perception or bias toward members with beards and investigate strategies to mitigate such perceptions, the bill said.
Over the years, military branches have carried out various studies on the beard issue to determine whether regulations could be loosened for the rank and file. But so far, no branch has taken the step beyond special exceptions.
In the case of the Army, clean shaves became a requirement just before World War I when chemical weapons were deemed a serious threat. The Navy and the Coast Guard were the last branches to ban beards, doing so in 1985 and 1986, respectively.
In more recent years, numerous allied militaries have put in more flexible rules regarding facial hair, a move seen as potentially giving a boost to recruitment.
In March, the British army was the latest to approve beards, reversing a more than century-old clean-shaven requirement.