[HamiltonJay]

Being "cleanly shaved" is an absolute must for any soldier.. its not some beaurocratic nonsense.

The reason being cleanly shaved is required is because a gas mask won't protect and seal properly if your skin isn't. Which is why beards stopped being permitted to be worn by soldiers around the time GAS as a weapon showed up on the battlefield!

Rather than ranting about clueless beaurocrats, go do some research! Being clean shaven saves soldiers lives, its not some moron at a desk in washington with a thumb up his but deciding to make grunts lives more miserable.

[Jeff Gordon]

do some research

I wonder how many of those special ops guys in Afganistan carry the gas masks that go along with the required clean shave? :-)

I know which side of the bureaucratic line you are on.

[supercat]

The reason being cleanly shaved is required is because a gas mask won't protect and seal properly if your skin isn't. Which is why beards stopped being permitted to be worn by soldiers around the time GAS as a weapon showed up on the battlefield!

Perhaps what's needed is for the soldiers to wear fake beards when they need to blend in? Then they could remove the beards in a hurry if they had to use their masks?