Soldiers finally allowed to grow beards as British Army overturns century-old ban

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Soldiers can finally grow beards whereas serving within the military in a historic rule change authorised by the King.

For the primary time in 100 years full beards will probably be permitted within the British Army, bringing guidelines in keeping with the Royal Navy and the RAF.

It comes after years of debate over facial hair guidelines with defence secretary Grant Shapps branding the century-old ban “ridiculous” final yr.

Chief of basic workers General Sir Patrick Sanders is alleged to have made the choice after a overview of serving and reservist officers confirmed an “overwhelming majority” felt the military wanted to change its coverage.

However beards should be saved neat will probably be topic to overview to guarantee they meet the military’s rules.

Beard size should be between 2.5mm and 25.5mm (one inch) and should be trimmed off the cheekbones and neck, whereas there should be “no patchy or uneven growth” and “no exaggerated colours”.

The new coverage will come into impact instantly to enable troopers to cease shaving over the Easter holidays – with troops instructed to count on their beards to be usually inspected.

Announcing the rule change in a four-minute message, Warrant Officer Class 1 Paul Carney mentioned: “Getting to an outcome has taken a bit longer than expected due to the larger number of stakeholders that were involved, including His Majesty the King, our politicians and our allies.

“CGS [chief of the general staff] has taken account of your views and has decided the appearance policy will change with our officers and soldiers being allowed to grow beards.”

However he insisted “standards can’t drop”, including: “The Army has a reputation for professionalism and a smart turnout, with our allies and with the British public.

“We must maintain that reputation by continuing to look our best.”

It comes after Mr Shapps mentioned it was time to modernise.

He instructed The Times that different armies all over the world have been “perfectly capable of fighting with beards” and criticised the military for taking so lengthy to make the choice.

“The armed forces get terribly pernickety about whether people have beards or not. Nowadays people have beards. How is it we are still struggling with recruitment and then arbitrarily saying you can’t join [if you grow a beard]. It is ridiculous. It is time to modernise,” he mentioned.

The Royal Navy has lengthy permitted sailors to have full beards and moustaches, with their commanding officer’s consent, and the RAF modified its rules in 2019 to enable beards.