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Royal Australian Navy question

cameron172

cameron172

Member
pilot
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Does the Australian Royal Navy not address facial hair in their grooming standards? Anyone have some insight?

My best guess is that it's allowed as long as it's presentable. Is the US military's grooming standards considered more strict than other countries'?
 
cameron172 said:
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Even so, if I were the LT, I'd get a fresh shave to escort the visiting foreign flag officer and the Master Air Marshal.
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Would you also not wear brown shoes in your khakis?

If the beard is allowed in their regs and well groomed there is no reason for them to conform to our uniform standards, or our perceptions of what should be appropriate.
 
If I were the lieutenant, why would I make an effort to comply with the grooming standards of a visitor's navy?

I wouldn't grow a moustache just because some Iraqi dignitary was coming by.
 
Yut....maybe you should be a Marine option....they always liked to try and enforce their standards on us Navy mids. :)
 
Hell ... beards be damned !!!

When I X-decked to HMAS MELBOURNE in '73 ... beards were the least of my considerations.

THEY HAD A-4S ON THE ROOF !!!

THEY HAD A BAR IN THE WARDROOM !!!

THEY HAD STEWARDS TO 'GENTLY' SHAKE ME AWAKE IN THE A.M. !!!

THEY HAD A SILVER TRAY OF COFFEE, MUFFINS, AND MARMALADE NEXT TO MY BUNK WHEN I AWOKE !!!

Ahhhhhhhhhhh .... civilization. :)
 
I wouldn't change my grooming standards if someone was visiting my country. However, if I was a guest or on an exchange to another country I would conform to their grooming policy if it was more stringent. Thats why I find it odd that a British guy at a Marine RAG would have a beard, Treetop. Maybe he's just pissed about recent events/ treatment.

And for the record, as a Marine I don't think there's anywhere I could go in the world that would have a stricter grooming policy.

If I remember correctly, our French guys in Meridian grew beards for CQ but were told to shave them to mustaches by the senior French officer.
 
Our RAF exchange guy is basically bald and has no facial hair. It also sounds like the BBC when you listen to him talk....which is only part of why he is awesome. According to him, since the RAF doesn't have RADALT/LAW systems in most of their jets, you can tell when you are at the correct altitude on a low level when you can see cows legs.....and you are too low when you can see sheeps legs.
 
Many of the european services have regs that allow beards as well as longer hair than we are accustomed to, especially amongst naval services where beards are almost a tradition. I remember in the 1960's seeing hair nets on soldiers in european army units designed to keep their long locks out of the machinery. A buddy of mine, an A-3 BN, told me that his ship, the America, rendezvoused with a New Zealand tanker to take on fuel in the Pacific and he got a big kick out of watching the RNZ officers on the tanker's bridge sporting beards, big sweaters and shorts along with their bridge covers.

There was a short window in the US Navy back around 1971 or so when then-CNO Adm Elmo Zumwalt put out a mandate that allowed beards for US officers (assuming they didn't interfere with oxygen masks- Royal Navy pilots had been wearing beards, however, with O2 masks for years). Zumwalt's missives at the time were known as "Z Grams." The move was not welcomed further down the chain but, basically, there was nothing they could do if a JO wanted to grow a beard except give him a rough time.
 
Looking back, that was a stupid comment I made. I didn't mean any disrespect or to show any parochialism on my part. Edited.
 
Sorry for reviving quite an old thread... but for someone who might be searching for an answer. The uniform manual states that in order to grow a beard, approval must be sought from the CO; once that approval is received, a beard may be grown. You must cease shaving immediately and not sculpt the beard - with the exception of maintaining a clean neckline which is advised. The beard cannot have a bulk (distance from face, not length) exceeding 5cm and must be clean and neatly presented at all times. That isn't word for word, but the general gist is conveyed. There is a certain time period (I want to say four weeks but am not 100%) after which the beard is to be inspected for fullness or shaved off. A growing of a beard without a moustache is not permitted, and the growing of a beard without a moustache is not permitted. The beard must join both the moustache and the sideburns.
 
rino60 said:
Sorry for reviving quite an old thread... but for someone who might be searching for an answer. The uniform manual states that in order to grow a beard, approval must be sought from the CO; once that approval is received, a beard may be grown. You must cease shaving immediately and not sculpt the beard - with the exception of maintaining a clean neckline which is advised. The beard cannot have a bulk (distance from face, not length) exceeding 5cm and must be clean and neatly presented at all times. That isn't word for word, but the general gist is conveyed. There is a certain time period (I want to say four weeks but am not 100%) after which the beard is to be inspected for fullness or shaved off. A growing of a beard without a moustache is not permitted, and the growing of a beard without a moustache is not permitted. The beard must join both the moustache and the sideburns.
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Go on...
 
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