Are Navy seals allowed a beard?

Question

I saw a pic in ny post and there were like six navy seals and all had really huge beards. I always thought that us military was forbidden from beards and in some cases moustaches as well. Are navy seals an exeption?

Answer 1

ALL SPECIAL FORCES ARE ALOOWED TO GROW BEARD IF THEY GO THROW UNDER COVER MISSION TO BE ALLOWED TO MIX WTH COMMUNITIES ( except may be for the Rangers because they are not really special forces ) ...son special forces in many ways do not fall under standard military rules

Answer 2

Yes....and no. Yes, SEALs would be an exception. Like so many others have said in one way or another, they need to do what they need to do to get the job done. Period. The reason I say, no, they are not an exception, is that they are NOT the only exception. Our son graduated from Boot Camp with a Recruit in full beard. He had a skin condition that made it very difficult for him to shave so he didn't have to. He did have to keep his beard trimmed and neat. Also, I've read some of the other posters saying you can't grow a beard on deployment. NOT true. Our son just got back last month and he grew a full beard underway. So did half the boat. This is not the first time he's grown a beard while he's been in the Navy either, but each time it's always been while they were at sea. Maybe because an Admiral can't exactly knock on the hatch and ask to be let in with they're running deep? ha!

I'm assuming the picture you saw was the one of the six SEALs that were in Afghanistan when five were lost? And their leader is about to receive the Medal of Honor? God rest their souls.

Answer 3

Navy Mustache Regulations

Answer 4

Commander Richard Marcinko, USN (Retired) mentioned SEAL "modified grooming standards" in his nonfiction book, Rogue Warrior.

He wrote about having an indoor full dress inspection for a general officer from the SpecOps community. CDR Marcinko wore a ponytail and beard with his dress whites.

Marcinko had one of his chief petty officers, whom he refers to as "Mikey T." (Michael E. Thornton, now a retired lieutenant), greet the general. Because Thornton was a Medal of Honor recipient, the general had to render the traditional salute to the chief.

Yes, you can safely say that SEALS are an exception. You can't blend in while battling darkness and evil if you're cleanshaven and have a regulation haircut.

Answer 5

seal teams have beards to "fit in" while in areas of the world that has that apart of their culture. There are two reasons for it.

The first reason is to help keep the mission clandestine. Seals need to camouflage. Common misconception is that special ops such as seals operate in woods, forests and so on. In reality seals also hide among local population. For ex on a green light operation before the US citizens new Al Qaeda was behind 9/11 we already had seal teams in Afghanistan using horse and donkey to move from village to village at night. They dressed like the locals and grew in beards to fit in with local population. There mission was to give out large sums of money to local warlords in secret meetings to help us dethrone the Taliban.

The other reason is to respect local culture. Technically they don’t need the beards. Its not as if the locals will disklike them if they don’t have beards, but they have experienced enemy trying to convert them for 100's of years. B/c special ops worked directly with the locals, we felt growing in beards would put theme at ease. As if we are not there to change them or take over, but rather help them.

This trait of being so understanding of local tradition and culture is actually more of a green berets trait. This is b/c they more often work with local population b/c they have to train them. But this is more of a war on information than on direct combat. When their not deployed seals do have grooming standards, but the navy seals are seen as the "big dogs on the block" an are not always so scrutinized for such issues. So in other words they get away with a lot of crap.

Answer 6

Yes, but only when deployed to an area that would require it. Like Afghanistan; where beards are a sign of adulthood in Pashtun society; plus it makes it harder for the Taliban to figure out who is the American, when everyone is dressed similarly and has beards.

Answer 7

Navy regulations permit "modified grooming standards" as required for mission requirements.

"Haze Grey and Underway" beards are not permitted, AND they're a fire hazard.

Yes, the Navy Seals are a permitted exception

Answer 8

i saw that too, i thought they all loved some bearded commander they had who trained this special forces unit. they actually explained that the tribal elders they work with respect people with beards and in fact don't trust non bearded people. These special forces guys go into the back country and try to win over the local villages and get thier cooperation. So the beards give them respect to the old men.

Answer 9

All special operation troops are allowed to grow beards if that allows them to become part of a population and if that is the custom of that population. If ur on liberty or leave off base, u can also "grow" out the facial hair, special ops or not.

Answer 10

During Vietnam Adm Zumwalt authorized all Navy personnel to have facial hair.....I believe that order has been rescinded.....In general all military personnel must be clean shaven and meet certain restrictions on mustaches....for several reasons including CBR ( Chemical , Biological, Radiological )......BUT there are exceptions.....certain special troops can be authorized on a mission basis to grow beards as part of blending in to their environment.....Delta for example not only does not follow hair regulations.....they do not hold formations and can join a local spa for their individual physical training

Answer 11

Usually beards are not alowed in the military.. special forces are an exception to the rule when working in hostile environments undercover. They do this to make the best attempt to blend in with the local population. In this case, a majority of middle easterns have beards.