Posted on 01/27/2014 5:42:54 AM PST by C19fan
An epidemic of pogonophobia is upon the land – pogonophobia being the irrational fear of beards. It comes in response to a Pentagon directive that gives some latitude to U.S. troops who wear beards — and turbans, and yarmulkes — for religious reasons. The usual rabble was out in force, complaining that the military is knuckling under to liberal sensibilities: “PC gone mad,” one conservative blogger put it, arguing that the change comes “thanks to Obama’s love of Muslims.” The sentiment was repeated elsewhere. With apologies to Willi Schlamm, sometimes the problem with conservatism is conservatives.
(Excerpt) Read more at nationalreview.com ...
LOL
I was there too and had to be in MOPP 4 even though none of our detection gear picked anything up. We wore that stuff just because we had it, I guess.
From reading the original article this came from the 2013 NDAA which had verbiage stating Soldiers would have maximum religious freedom. As I imagine a large part of this was to protect Christian Soldiers from having to partake in Gay Rights Month. Either way, a result of this was for Soldiers from other faiths now having more leeway in religious dress. I find it funny though that the one area of criticism for this comes from good old Mikey Weinstein who isn’t worried about Sikh, Muslims, Jews, or Rastafarians abusing this but that it will give too much leeway to his old boogeymen Christians.
Build a turban shaped helmet. Win Win.
pogonophobia
The fear of being prevented from hopping on a pogo stick.
“We have met the enemy and he is us”. Pogo.
Well, it only stands to reason quite frankly, ever since odumbo repealed don’t ask don’t tell and the pickle kissers are now allowed to serve openly I hear that that crowd likes a good tickle down there from a beard...Just repeating what I’ve heard. I also served with distinction without a beard for more than 20 years — Like I always say, “if it ain’t broke, then by God the left will fix it until it is.”
Of course we always make exceptions for the SPECOPS guys...they need to blend.
Another milestone for army womans. They’ll now be able to grow a beard while on active duty.
“The US Navy allowed beards...”
If I remember...it was suggested that sailors begin their beard while on leave so it would be partially grown in upon returning to duty. Do I remember that correctly?
I don’t remember, that was 40 some years ago.
The unit I would later join, 1-34 Armor, used their gas masks is Desert Shield. It was a false alarm, but they did the whole drill - put on masks, did wipe tests, had the lowest ranking guy test the waters and take off his mask, etc.
You may remember that the threat of chemical warfare was a big part of Desert Shield/Storm....and civilians in Israel were masking up whenever a SCUD hit.
The mask is a legitimate concern. Within the last year, Syria has been accused of using gas - its not like its no longer used.
This rule isn’t about Sikhs. It is about mooselimbs. Sikhs will be prosecuted for their view of mooselimbs.
In the US Navy, where firefighting is needed within enclosed spaces, special firefighting equipment is needed--equipment that fits over the face, and supplies oxygen to the firefighter. I think a thick, heavy beard would not be well-suited for such PPE.
I've been a first responder, you don't get 30 minutes to an hour to cut and dry shave in the middle of a hazmat response.
IIRC, troops deployed with MOP gear in both gulf wars, and had to drill in it too. Having this policy then would have involved a lot of bitching and potential reassignments. What happens when your critical comm specialist needs to be reassigned because he doesn't want to shave?
There's a LOT of crap our warriors prepare for and subsequently don't encounter. The purpose is so when you DO encounter it for the first time, it isn't a battle loser.
And fires occur during wartime and peacetime defense postures.
As far as I know the last time the USA had to actually defend themselves against gas attacks was in WW I. That is almost 100 years ago but we are still pretty paranoid about it. I was issued MOPP stuff now as a contractor in Afghanistan. I really don’t expect the Taliban to gas us any time soon but I guess somebody thinks they might. I don’t think the beard is as big a deal on getting a gas mask to seal as the Army claimed it was. Other NATO armies had gas masks and guys with beards as did our Navy. I am guessing their gas masks sealed OK.
And yet Navy allowed guys to grow beards back in the 70s and 80s.
That was a bit “Fly off the handle” there, particularly in light of some of your other posts. Sorry for that...
Other Armies allow beards and train with gas masks. I am guessing that it works OK or they would not allow it. FWIW, I just tried mine on and it seems to seal OK with beard.
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