Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth won’t even look at any soldiers with beards during his upcoming South Korean engagement.
An email from the 51st Fighter Wing at Osan Air Base in South Korea formally restricts any “members with shaving waivers” from attending the military chief’s speaking engagement at Camp Humphreys in Pyeongtaek, according to a screenshot shared to an unofficial Air Force Facebook page. The post was made on Sunday, ahead of Hegseth’s visit to South Korea alongside Donald Trump.
The memo underscored that unshaven members are “NOT authorized” to attend the event.
“No Beardos allowed at Osan,” the post captioned the image.
An Air Force official confirmed the memo’s authenticity to Task & Purpose.
Last month, Hegseth ordered hundreds of America’s top military commanders to leave their international posts to attend a mandatory in-person assembly in Quantico, Virginia. The meeting unveiled the hairphobic ex–Fox News host’s latest efforts to de-woke the country’s armed forces—part of which included snipping shaving waivers away entirely.
That policy is expected to disproportionately affect Black service members due to the potentially injurious effects of frequently shaving their faces, given the curl pattern of their hair.
“No more beardos,” Hegseth said, during his September address. “Calling someone to shave, or work hard, is exactly the kind of work force we want.”
“The era of rampant and ridiculous shaving profiles is done,” Hegseth continued, adding that anyone unwilling to comply should look for a “new position or a new profession.”
Hegseth is far from the first commander to redefine the military’s relationship with facial hair. The armed forces have a long and strange history with beards, changing hygiene requirements and regulations every few decades.
But that’s far from Hegseth’s only hyperfixation on physical appearance. In the same address, Hegseth also announced that he would be changing physical standards for combat roles to the “highest male standard only,” a revision that could eject women from their positions.
Hegseth has openly said before that he does not believe women should serve in combat roles. During a November interview on The Shawn Ryan Show, Hegseth said, “I’m straight-up just saying we should not have women in combat roles. It hasn’t made us more effective. Hasn’t made us more lethal. Has made fighting more complicated.”
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