Posted on 07/10/2026 12:33:16 PM PDT by E. Pluribus Unum
Sailors whose medical conditions prevent daily shaving now have up to 12 months of treatment options before the Navy evaluates them for continued service and, in some cases, administrative separation.
A safety argument has ensued around facial hair, with the service saying it can break the seal on the masks that keep a crew breathing through fire or gas. Behind this argument sits a study the Navy has kept close to the vest.
NAVADMIN 162/26, released July 7 under the signature of Vice Adm. Jeffrey J. Czerewko, The order reverses the Navy’s 2022 policy, which prohibited separation solely because PFB treatment had failed, and ends what two retired officers writing in Proceedings described as a roughly four-decade practice of allowing renewable medical accommodations.
In place of that open-ended allowance, the message sets a countdown for any Sailor who now gets twelve months of medical treatment to reach a clean-shaven standard, and those who cannot get there are headed toward a separation board.
Most of the men caught by the change carry the same diagnosis. Pseudofolliculitis barbae, the ingrown-hair condition better known as razor bumps, afflicts roughly 60% of Black men, according to the American Osteopathic College of Dermatology, and it worsens with the very act the policy now demands.
Shaving vs Separation
The order's demands are clearly detailed, stating only a commanding officer may grant a medical waiver, and even then only as part of a documented treatment plan.
These waivers will arrive in 90-day blocks, four at most, and they expire in one year. Facial hair stays under a quarter inch, and anyone who relies on breathing gear draws a mask-fit check every three months.
After twelve months, if the Sailor is still unable to shave and the condition is marked as "unmanageable", this will firmly place them in a...
(Excerpt) Read more at military.com ...
You were a CV DCA? You didn’t by chance cut an Admirals Popcorn Poppers cord did ya? Ours did. LOL
I see no sense at all in your post 29 as a response to what I wrote.
Thanks for the conversation.
The Brothers are gonna be pissed!!! “But my bumps!! I can’t shave Chief. It hurts!” Just to be fair though, I’ve seen some dudes with really bad skin. Others though, they just got No Shave Chits because they could. Pretty much rubber stamped approval.
“ We had Black guys in our BMT squadron that had shaving waivers due to PFD skin condition”
Red heads (like me) often get the same skin condition. I’ve had a beard since 1969.
“We had Black guys in our BMT squadron that had shaving waivers due to PFD skin condition.”
They taught us in school, starting in 1964, that there is no differences between the races. They were quite adamant.
The post was fine and a reasonable, and common related to the topic, what kind of hell do you think Hegseth is going to catch over this, Reagan, Hegseth, they are on the same page.
No, you have a year to try medical intervention for the problem that makes shaving a problem for you.
Does the order apply to the ladies and any remaining trannys?
if you are on a rescue team and you die, you just stopped the whole rescue. If you are on a fire fighting team and you die, you just screwed the whole ship.
THERE IS NO PERMISSION TO DIE IN AN EMERGENCY! YOU ARE ON THE ONLY PIECE OF PROPERTY KEEPING YOU ALIVE AND ALL YOUR SHIPMATES.
shdh at how some people can post about things they have no clue about.
The navy doesnt bring spare sailors. Either you have a job to do or you can gtfo of the navy.
“Navy Says Beards Are a Safety Risk, Gives Sailors 1 Year to Shave”
Navy Says Beards Are a Safety Risk, Gives Sailors 1 Year to pull out one whisker at a time.
There, fixed it
Genetics doesn’t mean ‘race’.
All kinds of people can get sickle cell anemia, though it’s more common in Black people.
Same with Tay Sachs - it doesn’t just happen to Jews.
And all kinds of people have curly hairs that grow back into the skin; but it afflicts Black people more often.
The bumps no shave chit wasn’t exactly that. The brothers were be required to keep it a certain length.
There was a black senior chief from AIMD that would stop them if they were out of specs. This guy was an equal opportunity terror though, he terrorized everyone and anyone regarding shaves.
Off going duty section on a weekend, better be saved before crossing the brow.
Some brothers would try to argue , oh snap, he’d say you need to go to medical and have them trim it. No one and I mean no one messed with this guy.
People would approach the brow, see who was on watch and turn away .
As I read it, it starts on Day One unless you have a medical excuse which can be extended up to a year.
The ladies like watching ou shave in three minutes????
When I became a Correctional Officer for NY State back in 1980, we were gassed at the training academy, and were issued gas masks upon arrival at a facility. As well, the State used Scott Air packs for firefighting. Not having a beard was a mandatory requirement in the dress code and fire and safety procedures manual. I'm a female, so the beard wasn't a problem. Females did have to wear their hair above our neck, and no jewelry, especially earrings, which I never wore anyway.
I remember a fellow airman with that problem.The stuff to use at the time almost equaled ‘nair’ but burned a bit. It worked, so he had that put in his medical record.
The man beat an Article 15, and became one of the first few with that remedy. The physical condition happens whether straight, DE, or electric shaver is used!
I just hope they don’t prefer it.
I can’t imagine having to put Nair on my face. The one time I used it on my legs I got a horrible rash and never used it again.
If one man as you say stops any of the above mentioned task then the training P.O. and OIC needs to be held accountable for piss poor training. You train and train and train for the above mentioned events. I did a total of 9 months to full time fire department on a carrier. First time in 1978 I did was 3 months as an OBA Investigator. Second time a year later I was One on One for six months in a permanent stand alone full time pooled from all departments fire department which lasted from 1979-Decomm of ship in about 1993.
Simply put they Navy had far more riskier goings on in Damage Control than beards although we shaved ours off. The biggest danger was using R-Div and Weapons Dept as the at Sea fire department. One mass causality and it would indeed slow things down.
You drill and drill for the expected and unexpected. I had to tap out one night off the hose due to another issue which was a failed OBA cannister. Now those things could kill ya and anybody close by if oily water got into the cannister. I think they finally switched over and used tanks. Been there, done that, had the red sweatshirt with a Triangle on it. My non fire department times on ship I had a beard.
People definitely die while trying to save their ships and a damaged ship that survives can kill again before it makes it home, the Marblehead lost two more men several weeks after the initial battle/saving the ship/and emergency repairs in inadequate Pacific ports, the repairs required on the long escape voyage were still deadly to attempt and perform, my dad survived it.
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