Air Force rolls out new rules on mustaches and sideburns
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The Air Force is spelling out in minute detail how long airmen’s mustaches and sideburns are allowed to be.
“The new guidance mandates that sideburns must be above the ear opening and that mustaches are prohibited from going beyond the corners of the mouth or into a respirator seal zone,” an Air Force spokesperson told Task & Purpose on Monday.
These changes to grooming standards were outlined in an Oct. 29 memo that was shared on the unofficial Air Force amn/nco/snco page on Monday.
Task & Purpose obtained a copy of the memo, which is included at the bottom of the article, and shows exactly where airmen’s sideburns and mustaches must end.
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“If worn, sideburns will be straight and even width (not flared) and will be above the ear opening,” the memo says. “Sideburns will end in a clean-shaven horizontal line.”
The memo also makes clear that airmen’s mustaches must be shorter than previously required, neatly trimmed, and must match an airman’s natural hair color. Additionally, handlebar mustaches, twists, curls, and goatees are “strictly prohibited.”
One airman, who spoke on condition of anonymity, had some questions about the new grooming standards. For example, what was wrong with the previous standards for sideburns, which mandated that they “not extend below the bottom of the orifice of the ear opening,” according to a version of the Air Force instruction published in July.
The airman also argued that the grooming standards appear intended to take a “cookie-cutter” approach to uniformity.
<figure class="wp-block-image size-large">
<figcaption class="wp-element-caption">The Department of the Air Force issued an Oct. 29, 2025, memo that specifies the length of airmen’s mustaches. Air Force graphic.</figcaption></figure>The latest updates incorporate changes to military grooming standards for facial hair that Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth announced last month, the spokesperson said.
On Sept. 30, Hegseth told hundreds of generals and admirals gathered at Quantico, Virginia, that the U.S. military would sharply curtail waivers for beards and long hair.
“We’re going to cut our hair, shave our beards, and adhere to standards,” Hegseth said during his speech. “Because it’s like the broken windows theory in policing. It’s like you let the small stuff go, the big stuff eventually goes, so you have to address the small stuff. This is on duty, in the field and in the rear. If you want a beard, you can join Special Forces. If not, then shave.”
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<figcaption class="wp-element-caption">The Department of the Air Force issued an Oct. 29, 2025, memo that specifies the length of airmen’s sideburns. Air Force graphic.</figcaption></figure>Since August, Hegseth has implemented substantial changes to military grooming standards for facial hair. Now, troops can only receive temporary shaving waivers for medical conditions such as pseudofolliculitis barbae, a painful skin condition common among Black men that is made worse by shaving; and service members who still need waivers after a year of medical treatment face being separated.
The Air Force’s Oct. 29 memo announced that unit commanders are now the approval authority for shaving waivers.
“At the start of each duty day, male airmen must be clean-shaven,” the memo says. “Beards are not authorized unless for medical reasons, when recommended by a medical official, and approved by applicable unit commander or as authorized pursuant to a request for a religious accommodation.”
The Air Force had announced in January that all airmen and Space Force guardians with medical profiles would need to be evaluated each year by healthcare professionals to receive another waiver, reversing a 2020 policy that allowed airmen and guardians diagnosed with pseudofolliculitis barbae to be issued waivers for five years without annual renewals.
An Air Force chart that was posted on Reddit in April outlined the complicated process of determining whether airmen and Guardians should receive medical shaving waivers.
The full memo on the recent changes to Air Force grooming standards can be read below:
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