No More "Flattops" for US Navy Women

Article here. Excerpt:

'The Navy said Thursday that it is halting, at least temporarily, its practice of cutting female recruits’ hair short when they arrive at boot camp.

The service said it was taking the step “in an effort to standardize training and education across the military services,” following orders last year from Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel to review hair regulations after revised Army hair rules upset some female soldiers.

The ban on haircuts will run for the first three months of this year, and is in response to female sailors complaining that the short haircuts didn’t prepare them adequately for grooming the longer hairstyles permitted once they graduated into the fleet.

“Grooming standards education will be incorporated into the curriculum, but will not impact other training,” the Navy has said of the so-far temporary change. “This will allow women to style longer hair in the same manner that they would wear it daily in the Fleet while providing the opportunity to demonstrate their understanding of the standards before transferring to the Fleet.”
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In what will surely come as a shock to generation of raw, crew-cutted recruits, the Navy also said it is weighing a similar relaxation for incoming male hair. “Male accessions at Officer Candidate School and Recruit Training Command are required to have their heads shaved to an eighth-inch upon arrival,” the service says. “They receive follow-up haircuts, which result in a regulation haircut by the time they reach graduation.”'