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Facial hair in the military


Facial hair in the military has been at various times common, prohibited, or an integral part of the uniform.

Out of respect to their religion, Sikhs are allowed to grow beards in the Indian army

An Indian Army Para (SF) operator with a full beard.

General Bikram Singh of the Indian Army

Admiral D.K. Joshi of the Indian Navy with a five o'clock shadow

In the armed forces (and police) of India, Sikhs are allowed to wear full beards as their religion expressly requires followers to do so. However, they are specifically required to "dress up their hair and beard properly". In fact, in Sikh-only units there are instances of personnel transferred out by the unit Commander for their refusal to wear beard and hair as required by Sikh religion, although no official regulation exists on this.

Non-Sikh personnel are allowed to grow whiskers and moustaches, with the only regulation being that "will be of moderate length".

In December 2003, the Supreme Court of India ruled that Muslims in uniform can grow beards.

Exceptions for other religions are made in case of under-cover special forces operatives like army commandos(Para SF) and navy commandos (MARCOS) who are allowed to grow beards. Navy personnel are allowed to grow beards subject to the permission of the respective commanding officer. Regular army on active duty are sometimes exempt from the facial-hair regulations for the duration of their 'tour' if their task makes access to such facilities difficult.

Beards are permitted in the Armed Forces of the Islamic Republic of Iran. As a sign of their ideological motivation, Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (Sepah) personnel used to tend to wear full beards but now they usually shave them. while the Islamic Republic of Iran Army (Artesh) personnel are usually trimmed or wear mustaches.


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Wikipedia

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