Episode 67: Beard or No Beard: Decoding the Army's Facial Hair Memo

Confused about the Army's new facial hair policy? You're not alone. The recently released Directive 2025-13 has created waves throughout all Army components, with soldiers debating what it really means for their grooming standards. Join me as I cut through the confusion and give you a straight-talking breakdown of what's actually written in the policy.

Many soldiers are misinterpreting the directive, claiming it doesn't explicitly require shaving. I carefully analyze the actual language: "all male soldiers will maintain a clean, shaven face when in uniform or on duty in civilian attire." While it may not literally say "you must shave," the meaning becomes crystal clear when you connect all the pieces of the memorandum. More importantly, once your command issues an order based on this policy, you're legally obligated to comply or face potential UCMJ action.

The policy introduces a significant change to how shaving accommodations work. All existing profiles must be re-evaluated within 90 days, with the ultimate goal of eliminating traditional shaving profiles entirely. Instead, soldiers will need to follow a new Exception to Policy (ETP) process that requires medical evaluation, treatment plans, and approval from an O5 commander. I walk through exactly how this process works and why you should be proactive about scheduling your medical appointment.

As a leader or soldier, understanding this directive isn't optional. I encourage you to read the policy yourself rather than relying solely on others' interpretations. Develop informed questions, consult legal resources if needed, and prepare for implementation deadlines that many units are already establishing. Whether you agree with the policy or not, knowing exactly what it requires will help you navigate the changes successfully and avoid unnecessary disciplinary issues.

Have you started the process of getting an ETP? Are commanders at your installation already announcing implementation dates? Share your experience in the comments, and don't forget to subscribe for more straight-talk about Army regulations and policies that affect your military career.

Chapters

• 0:00 Introduction to Army Facial Hair Policy
• 1:32 Breaking Down the Shaving Policy
• 3:11 Understanding ETPs and Medical Treatment
• 5:50 Leadership's Role and Soldier Responsibilities
• 9:36 Final Thoughts and Conclusion

Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:00

Roger Sarn. Welcome back to the Roger Sarn Podcast, where we talk all things ARMY and I'm your host, sarn Cruz, and today I'm going to touch on the memorandum or directive 2025-13 labeled facial hair grooming standards and, without ado, let's get started. All right? So, as we already know, the memorandum is out there, you guys have had access to it, you guys have been talked to about it and everyone has an opinion about it. But I want to just stick to breaking down the question of do I have to or do I not have to shave, because I've seen multiple videos on YouTube and TikTok and well, I'm not shaving, or you're going to have to shave, or whatever it is. It doesn't say that you have to shave. So I'm going to give you my perception of what it talks about when it comes to shaving. I'm not going to break the whole thing down. I already did a video TikTok about that. If you want to do it. I also did another video in reference to when the army first put out the information, with all the bullet points. If you want to, I can pin it up here and then you guys can go ahead and look at it, but in the meantime, I'm just going to give you my perception of what it says when it comes to shaving and this is shaving before your evaluation. Okay, or re-evaluation, let's get there.

Speaker 1: 1:32

All right, here we go. So we already see it it's 07 July 2025. That's when they put it out. And we already see what the actual directive name is. We see it applies to every component in the Army, which is National Guard, reserves and regular Army. We see what the purpose is. The purpose is to establish a new policy for facial hair grooming standards and also give a directive to the fact that they no longer want shaving profiles to be authorized. And then here's where the meat and potatoes is. When it comes to the policy, here's where the discrepancy, where I think it is telling soldiers that they are going to have to shave when directed by their command. Ok, now that you have to shave right now, and that I'm telling you go shave. What I'm saying is, if your command says you will shave by certain day, then you're probably going to have to do it. One, because I'm explaining to you how the policy is telling you to do it without saying you must shave. And two, now it becomes a directive from more than likely a commissioned officer, which is your battalion commander, which flows down to your company commanders, which flows down to your platoon leaders, and then it gets to you, okay, so now it's an order, and if you don't comply with that order, now you're subject to a whole nother slew of punitive actions, right, and which can escalate because it's ultimately disrespect or not following orders, whatever it is they want to category it.

Speaker 1: 3:13

But the policy itself, the policy says all male soldiers will maintain a clean, shaven face when in uniform or in duty, on duty, in civilian attire, in accordance to reference 1, charlie. And we know reference 1 Charlie is 670-1. And we know that 670-1, if we scroll all the way down right here. This, it is now being taken over by this memo and this memo, the duration for the memo is this direct. It says this direct that is rescinded upon publication of the updated references and until they update these references, this policy is in place and this policy gives you a one-liner. It says all male soldiers will maintain a clean, shaven face. You can stop it right there. So this is what tells me that once the order comes down through your particular command there are some posts that already have you will shave by Monday Once they put that out. That's it, because they've already discussed it with their brigade or battalion legal and they've already discussed it with whoever it is that they need to talk to and they know that their legal team has vetted it and they are given the right commands. Then it says on 4-1, soldiers must comply with the grooming standards unless granted by their 05 commanders for re-evaluation by a medical provider no later than 90 days from this publication, from the publication of this directive. The re-evaluation will assess the soldier's current treatment and determine if continuation of profile is required. So not only does the re-evaluation say, hey, we're going to check you out within 90 days, they're going to say if this current treatment is enough for you to even be on profile still OK.

Speaker 1: 5:28

Now let's talk about the ETP. The first O5 commander in the soldier's chain of command will review the recommended profile. The medical provider will recommend a treatment plan to assist the soldier in returning in compliance with the facial hair grooming standard consistent with paragraph 3, alpha through 3 delta, which are the phases right here, three alpha through delta. Once the medical treatment plan is approved, the O5 commander will issue the soldier an approved ETP for facial hair grooming. So you have to get the treatment approved to get the ETP. So right here, when it says soldier must comply with grooming standards unless granted a written exception to policy, that means if you don't have the ETP which we know that the ETP is only granted through the approved medical treatment from the provider then that means ultimately that you would have to shave until then.

Speaker 1: 6:28

Now, the quicker you can get an appointment, the quicker you can get your ETP. Because if you see down here it says they're going to review the, they'll re-evaluate and we'll assess the soldier's current treatment. So if you're already on treatment, all they're going to do is put you in a phase and then you go from there. So you could and I would think that what they're doing is all the soldier beard appointments that they're going to front load. Those Start out by going to sick call, get in there and then let them tell you okay, here, make an appointment, here we're going to put you in this day. But I think the quicker you get there, the quicker you can get on the treatment plan, the quicker you can get the ETP. But all in all, from what I read here, you have to have an ETP in order to not shave. You can't get an ETP until the commander has approved the treatment.

Speaker 1: 7:24

So if you go back to the original policy where it says all male soldiers will maintain a clean shaving face when in uniform or on duty in civilian attire, that tells me that when they order us to shave, we're going to have to comply, and this is something that, as leaders, you must be able to read through and articulate to your troops. You have to break this down to these troops. There's going to be people that don't understand like genuinely don't understand and then there's going to be people who don't want to understand. And that's fine, because I do understand the premise of the policy. People have a perception of it and you're well within your right. However, once you take it into your own hands to disobey an order, now you've subjected yourself to a whole nother can of worms.

Speaker 1: 8:21

So what I would say in this situation? Read the policy, explain it to your soldiers and, until the command comes down from your particular footprint, well then, you're good right? I would think so. No one is going to move a muscle until that whole brigade, division, battalion, company, until they have a full understanding, some post or bases, whatever you want to call them they already have a set date. Hey, monday clean shaven, boom. That's it, and legally they're well within their right from my perception.

Speaker 1: 8:53

If you guys don't think this is correct, I would think I would want you guys to read it and piece it together. They're not going to put like the straight verbiage in there because now the commanders no longer have no left and right limits, ok, so I would urge you guys to read it for yourselves. Even if you're a Joe I'm talking about a troop, a junior soldier read it for yourself. It's available for you to read. Your leadership does not have to read it for you, so read it to yourself. Develop any questions so when you guys have the powwow at your level, you're able to articulate and ask questions, general questions, and bring up concerns that you may have, and they will provide clarity for you. Now, if you also want to take the memo and ask TDS, there are multiple avenues of approach. Like get some legal assistance, you can do that too. There's nothing that says that you can't, because they're going to be the ones to best tell you hey, this is what's going on.

Speaker 1: 9:48

This is just Sark Cruz's perception of what he reads when he pieces it all together and reads the lines, not in between the lines. I'm reading the line. It tells you straight up all soldiers must maintain a clean, shaven face. That's telling me to shave. It doesn't say all soldiers have to shave, because it doesn't need to say that. It's written for regulation. Okay. So I just want to hear what your thoughts are. Do you think my understanding of the memo is accurate or not? Drop your thoughts in the comments. Keep it clean and remember you don't have to embrace the suck if you got the right tools in your rug. I'm Sarn Cruz and I'll see you in the next one. Peace, roger Sarn.