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A bearded airman holds a firearm.

Airman 1st Class Isaac John holds his position during a field training exercise at Stanford Training Area, England, in 2022. Congress, in an updated version of the National Defense Authorization Act, wants the Air Force to study the pros and cons of allowing airmen to grow beards without waivers for medical and religious exceptions. (Eugene Oliver/U.S. Air Force)

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.

A female airman holds a piece of paper while looking at a bearded male airman.

Air Force Maj. Caitlin Oviatt, 55th Logistics Readiness Squadron commander, looks at a shaving waiver during an open ranks inspection on July 9, 2024. According to the final text of the new defense bill, Congress wants the Air Force to study the pros and cons of allowing airmen to grow beards. (Chad Watkins/U.S. Air Force)

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.

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John covers U.S. military activities across Europe and Africa. Based in Stuttgart, Germany, he previously worked for newspapers in New Jersey, North Carolina and Maryland. He is a graduate of the University of Delaware.

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