For men, getting their head shaved on the first day of Navy boot camp has been a rite of passage for decades.Just plain wow.
Women are also required to get first-day haircuts to ensure their hair is trimmed to regulation length, equal to the uniform collar.
But the days of these old traditions could be numbered.
Women taking part in a three-month pilot program at Recruit Training Command Great Lakes, Illinois, and Officer Training Command Newport, Rhode Island, will not be required to get their hair shorn. A similar move is being considered for men that, if adopted, would eliminate the decades-long ritual.
Shaving off hair is about more than bad fashion sense. It deals with hygiene, removing a major "individual" item (haircuts remove a part of a persons past and they are then "reborn" when they graduate bootcamp) and to promote safety when operating weapons/moving over obstacles/during exercise...etc.
Are Navy officials serious? Must everything die to accommodate
the new breed of Sailor no matter how idiotic the move is?
Call me a caveman but I don't think this is a smart move. Its just another example of the pussification of the US Navy.
Never heard of anyone actually complaining about the head shaving after a couple of weeks. Have you ever heard of someone insisting on dropping from boot camp based on the hair cut?
ReplyDeleterecruits are being run so ragged that the last thing on their mind is hair...even more important is the fact that they don't have the time to worry about getting their "hair together"! but we are talking about Marine Corps boot camp. i thought the Navy's was much softer but not this much.
DeleteApparently some women have complained though about breaking finger nails during boot camp
DeleteFor fuck sake... men regularly shave heads as normal "haircut". In armed forces it's double practical as hygiene and as self defense. Enemy in hand to hand combat can't grab your long hair and pull you down to the ground level that way.
DeleteIf that was a idea of some "men" they are NOT MEN, they are woman that born in wrong body. If this is the woman idea... shut the fuck up and go to the kitchen not to boot FUCKING CAMP!
Argh... every year this is more and more abstraction.
I remember a time when you would be looking forward to get your first flat top type hair cut ... But then I also remember the hairnets they had in Dutch and German forces so troopers could get their hair into their helmet.
ReplyDeleteThey already changed regulations regarding facial hair for the seals so I guess it would have been unfair not to accept some accommodation for the rest of the navy !
Every troop remembers the feel of their freshly skinned onion as they ran their hand over their head...
ReplyDeleteAnd the crinkly sound it made when your head hit that government issue pillowcase that first night....
Then again, Officers coming out of ROTC or the Academy never go through boot camp, so it isn't like getting that haircut is vital to serving. Still, I think it is a shame to change the standards only for the sake of change.
usually the ROTC guys are so hardcore and wanting the dream that they shave their own hair or get extreme high and tights. i've never seen a ROTC 'boot' with long hair...not even medium length.
DeleteThis is the first time I have been made aware of this text, I'm leaning towards a hoax, the French text seems a little to "clean", maybe it was an officer that wrote it. I'm American but I've lived almost 20 years in France,I speak English with a French accent which the ladies appreciate and still have family in France. Some of it resonates as true because when my French family visited me when I was in the US Army, they had similar remarks..... even if it's a hoax, I still like what it says about the US Army and US military in general.
Deletehttp://serendipity.ruwenzori.net/index.php/2008/09/21/american-troops-in-afghanistan-through-the-eyes-of-a-french-omlt-infantryman
just another service wide "modified grooming standard" that usually only apply to ST6/DecGru operators
ReplyDeleteAhh.......hair. Such a controversial subject especially when you are a Sikh.
ReplyDeleteMy first night of AF basic (Back in 2003 for me) they made us rub our heads all over with whatever soap or shampoo we brought with us, yelled at us for a good 10-20M and then we got to strip and take our first 30 sec shower after everything had dried to a nice crusty film. I was glad when I finally got my luscious locks trimmed.
ReplyDeletesounds lovely. i'm amazed they let you keep that with you though. its bagged tagged and the recruits get it back after the fun. what concerns me is that i see this as a trial balloon. they're rolling this out for the Navy but others will be forced into it if its adopted.
DeleteI think letting women grow out their hair is okay. The USAF doesn't require women to keep their hair short, which is why they get nearly all of the attractive looking women in their ranks. I do have an issue with letting guys keep their hair, but then again I think men and women should be treated differently in the military and I think they should be kept separate from each other as well.
ReplyDeletei'll never believe thats why the USAF gets the hot babes. i believe its because those females want the benefits of service without the pain of it as it exists for the other branches. where else do you get what i would consider luxury accommodations for privates? lets be honest. USMC officers don't get as good housing as USAF E-5's! our Flag Ranks live in what USAF Lts would consider substandard quarters!
Deleteso its more than just a hair thing its a life style thing. but the worry should be that to make women happen in the Navy, you're going to see relaxed male grooming standards. that plain sucks. instead of saying tuck in your shirt or get your ass out of the BX in that fucking PT gear, you're going to have to add comb your fucking hair and get those ear rings out of your nose?