A new Marine Corps policy allows for the separation or discharge of service members who suffer from a skin condition that causes pain and scarring from shaving. The new policy reverses one implemented in 2022 that protected such military personnel from having any administrative action taken against them at all. So, why the policy change now?
Well, it’s unclear why the change has been implemented, but one little fact about the skin condition should raise eyebrows — especially now, with the military under the leadership of President Donald Trump’s underqualified white supremacy hire, Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth, who is helping his MAGA messiah rid the military of all things diversity, equity and inclusion.
The skin condition called pseudofolliculitis barbae (PFB) mainly affects Black men.
From Military.com:
The “interim guidance” issued Thursday gives military health care providers 90 days to reevaluate Marines diagnosed with pseudofolliculitis barbae, or PFB. If they don’t recover based on a four-phase treatment program outlined in the message, have to remain on a shaving waiver for more than a year, and a commander deems it fit, the Corps can administratively separate them “due to incompatibility with service,” according to the message.
The directive marks a reversal from a previous Marine Corps policy issued in 2022 that prohibited the service from administratively separating Marines solely based on the condition, which is caused when curled hairs grow back into the skin, resulting in inflammation.
It also comes at the same time Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has ordered a military-wide review of standards specifically focused on issues such as shaving waivers and body fat.
“In cases where a medical condition prevents a Marine from meeting required standards for an extended period — exceeding one year — administrative separation may be considered if it affects long-term service compatibility,” Maj. Jacoby Getty, a spokesperson for the Corps’ Manpower and Reserve Affairs, said in an emailed statement Friday when asked why Marines are no longer exempt from separation due to PFB.
“However, every effort will be made to support Marines through treatment and recovery before such decisions are considered,” he added. Getty emphasized that the new guidance is meant to imbue consistency across medical exemptions and that the service remains “fully committed” to supporting Marines with PFB.
“Fully committed,” huh? I mean, it seems like a reasonable person would consider refraining from penalizing a veteran over a medical condition they have no control over to be a bare minimum show of commitment, but what do I know?
Anyway, according to Military.com, “Black service members make up about 15% to 16% of the active-duty force, they said, but 66% of shaving waiver holders are Black.”
And it’s not just that having PFB could get a person discharged or “separated” from the rest of the military personnel (whatever that means). According to a military dermatologist who spoke to the publication under the condition of anonymity (because they aren’t authorized to speak to the press), shaving waiver holders get promoted less frequently than their beardless counterparts, and they tend to leave the military earlier “due to its cultural aversion to beards.”
“You could have a white person, Black person, a Hispanic person, Asian person on a shaving waiver, they’re all going to get discriminated against. They’re all going to promote slower,” they said. “But again, the vast majority of the waiver holders are Black and African Americans, so that’s where the racial discriminatory impact comes.”
“So anything that is a negative that you can apply broadly to shaving waiver holders — whether they promote slower, whether we’re going to separate them from service, whether they received disciplinary action more often — anything that’s negative you apply broad strokes to a shaving waiver group is going to disproportionately affect Black and African American individuals,” they added.
Maj. Getty was asked if he had concerns that the new policy would discriminate against Black veterans and he gave an answer that, well, did not at all address the issue of potential discrimination against Black veterans.
“This MARADMIN does not lower our standards but provides clear, standardized guidance on how medical conditions may temporarily impact grooming and uniform compliance,” Getty said. “Our priority is to ensure the health and resilience of our Marines while maintaining our warfighting capability. These updates ensure consistency in the management of medical conditions while reinforcing our commitment to returning Marines to full compliance whenever possible. The strength of our force has always been our people, and this policy ensures they remain ready to fight and win.”
“The ultimate goal is for every Marine diagnosed with PFB to successfully complete the phased treatment approach, recover, and return to full compliance — ensuring they remain ready, resilient, and fully engaged in the fight,” he continued.
Here’s a question: Why not just let them people have beards?
Why is Getty out here pretending that the existence of service members who have facial hair over their chins prevents the Marines from “maintaining our warfighting capability?” Why is he acting like “uniform compliance” is important, especially in this case, where the uniform itself isn’t affected at all?
Just admit that the military, under Trump, Hegseth and the rest of the MAGA world’s DEI demolition crew have implemented yet another arbitrary policy change that is directly, indirectly, intentionally or inadvertently racist. (And, honestly, I’m being very generous by including the words “indirectly” and “inadvertently.”)
Instead of even acknowledging the racism, purposeful or otherwise, Getty would rather soft-serve the new policy as “standardized guidance on how medical conditions may temporarily impact” uniform compliance. Except, the skin condition in question isn’t temporary.
“We can’t undo genetics,” the military dermatologist said. “And so really the only way around is you just shave and you endure the pain and the scarring; you do laser hair removal; or a shaving waiver. That’s really the end of it.”
And in case anyone thinks laser hair removal is a viable option — it’s not.
“Again, going back to the fact that two-thirds of these individuals are Black/African American and likely have true PFB, they’re going to be stuck, and they’re going to go, ‘What the hell do I do now?’” the dermatologist said.
“I don’t know what the Marine Corps thinks is going to happen here, but if you’re in parts of Japan or Korea, you can’t just walk to the on-base dermatologist and get laser hair removal. That’s not going to work,” they continued. “In many parts of the U.S., there’s no active-duty dermatologist, and Tricare can’t pay for civilian laser hair removal. There’s no mechanism by which they can reimburse somebody for that — not currently, at least.”
Not that any person should be pressured to undergo such a permanent procedure just to keep their military careers intact in a country that will still claim it “supports our troops.”
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