Army may tell would-be recruits: the beard can stay

THE Army is reviewing its beard ban amid fears it is putting off a younger generation of potential recruits.

While some facial hair is allowed for medical or religious reasons, and for certain ceremonial or traditional posts, the Army has routinely not permitted the wearing of full beards.

The move has been revealed in a letter to Soldier, the service magazine.

Capt Dave Somerville, an officer in the Royal Engineers, said he was concerned that young fashion-conscious men might be put off joining.

“We are an organisation that needs to recruit and putting up artificial barriers because of an inability to change isn’t what we are about,” he said. “While attending a recent recruiting event, I couldn’t help but notice that a large percentage of the potential soldiers were sporting facial hair. It made me wonder how many of them were put off joining up because they can’t have a beard.”

Capt Somerville said that in his 38 years of service, he did not understand why the regulations still applied. He suggested the argument that the seal between a respirator and a soldier’s skin could be compromised by hair growth no longer stood up as the Army became increasingly diversified.

“I have heard the respirator excuse trotted out many times, but frankly that doesn’t make sense,” he said.

“Rightly, we allow certain individuals to have beards for religious reasons and they are as likely to require the use of that piece of kit as any of us.

“The most annoying reason though is tradition, just like the one where we wore red tunics and advanced slowly towards the enemy.”

In response Lt Col Rachel Emmerson, in the Employment Branch of Army Manning, accepted beards would be seen more often as more members of religious minorities joined.

“As the service becomes more diverse and we update policy to support represented faiths, we expect the sight of serving officers and soldiers with beards to become more familiar,” she replied. “We must also ensure the Army attracts as many potential applicants as possible, while maintaining the right appearance policies to protect the culture and ethos from which we derive our operational effectiveness.

“As such, we routinely review such regulations including those relating to facial hair.”

Lt Col Emmerson reiterated the Army would not jeopardise operational effectiveness for religious purposes or for the sake of recruits’ fashion choices.