The latest thing to get all of the active and retired military folks - mostly the retired ones - I know on Facebook in a tizzy is the announcement this past week that the Secretary of Defense had ordered that members of the US Armed Forces would be allowed to wear religious headgear while in uniform and be allowed to grow full beards if their religion required it. The beard thing is something I kinda saw coming ever since the Fort Hood shooter - and I won't give him the enjoyment of mentioning his name here - refused to shave while in prison awaiting trial, citing his religion as the reason. That kinda let the wildcat out of the bag, and what didn't get a lot of publicity is that several religious organizations got involved and asked the simple question, "So why can't someone grow a beard for religious purposes?"
Apparently, the SecDef and the JCS couldn't come up with an answer that would fly. That's my guess, anyway.
So now the members of our Armed Forces can wear religious headgear and grow beards if their religion calls for it. While a great many people are decrying this as the beginning of the end of "good order and discipline" in the US Armed Forces, my opinion can best be summed up in two words: So what?
Once upon a time a very long time ago, growing beards in the US Armed Forces was widespread and readily accepted. If you take a look at any history books at pictures of soldiers in the War for Southern Independence, you'll see that a great many of them sported beards. Same way in the Spanish-American war, too. Around the turn of the 20th century the military put a stop to the practice for sanitary reasons with the exception of the US Navy, who still allowed sailors to grow beards for the simple reason that in the days before the fresh water condensor, sailors didn't have enough fresh water aboard ship to shower with every day much less waste on shaving. The Navy continued to allow its sailors to grow beards well into the 20th century until the Chief of Naval Operations, James D. Watkins, outlawed beards and goatees in 1984.
But now the beards are back, but for an entirely different reason. There are folks who are saying that it's the end of "good order and discipline" in the Armed Forces, but I kinda think they're over-reacting just a bit. If growing a beard was going to pose a health hazard to the troops as it did in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, then I'd say get yourself a razor and stand real close to it. But the truth is, with the living conditions of the troops both on land and on board ship being as good as they are, the reason of "sanitary and health concerns" won't hold water.
I have only two concerns about the beard issue, one of which I also have about the religious headgear thing. My first concern with beards is that wearing a full beard will absolutely prevent a gas mask from sealing like it's supposed to, which means that if the beard-wearing serviceman gets caught in a chemical/biological gas attack, he's going to die. Period. However, on the flip side, if I'm having this concern then I'm quite sure that someone in the Pentagon has already had that same thought, and I wouldn't be surprised if when the new regulation comes out it comes with a stipulation that all beards must be removed when a military member deploys to a combat zone. To me, that's only common sense - unless you want the bearded wonder to come back in a box.
The other concern, the one I share about the religious headgear too, is that people will take advantage of it and suddenly "get religion" so they can grow a beard. And don't even try to tell me that won't happen, because you and I both know that as surely as God made little green apples and the sun will rise tomorrow morning, it most certainly will. I just hope that the military powers that be come up with a game plan to handle this.
As for the headgear, I have no problem with that as long as the military member realizes that they're gonna have to wear a helmet when they're in a combat zone, something I also hope the military powers that be will address. Aside from that, I don't see how a soldier wearing a Sikh turban instead of a black beret is going to affect "good order and discipline" in the ranks. The people who think that this is the "end of the military" as THEY know it are either out of touch with what today's military is really like, or they're just so set in their ways that they refuse to see it any other way. I have full and absolute confidence that when the new regulations on the wear of religious headgear and beards comes out, it's going to come out with a shitpot load of restrictions and requirements that will keep both well under control. I can see the market for a MARPAT, ACU or ABU pattern turban opening up now!
Hey, that's not a bad idea! Wonder who I can contact to get that one rolling?
IHC
2 comments:
Where I see a problem is from those who want to grow a beard for other than religious reasons being denied the privilege. I have mixed feelings after all of the years of daily having to stand before the mirror and shed hair, skin, and often blood (I'm sure we've all had our wives "borrow" our razor at one time or another without informing us) to pass muster each day in uniform.
BTW, can you imagine the chaos if the enlisted Rastafarians get wind of this and demand that they be able to toke a little reefer each day since that is their religious sacrament? And of course, what will be the military prescribed length of the dreadlocks? All thoughts I figured would give you a bit of a chuckle.
I share the same concern, and I can only hope that the powers that be who decided to take a step out onto the slippery slope of beards and headgear took that into consideration and have put controls in place that will allow them to control and regulate it. We'll see.
The main point of this writing was the tizzy that all of the retired military folks were getting into, and that this was the "beginning of the end of good order and discipline" in the military. I disagree; I don't think it's going to have the disastrous effects that some do.
Now, as for whether or not I agree with allowing the wearing of beards and turbans for religions reasons, my answer is NO. While I don't think it's going to have as disastrous an effect as some say it will, I do not agree with the decision. If we had a military draft and you were compelled to serve, that's another thing entirely; but our military today is an all-volunteer force, so if you don't like the rules and regs and don't want to have to abide by them, then don't join up. It's as simple as that.
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