The difference between Air Force and Army hair expectations
SUMMARY
Civilians might think of military hair regulations as one standard look (see: jarhead), but there's actually some variance among the branches. The "high and tight" sported by soldiers and Marines is much too short for your average airman.
Just ask Air Force captain Mark Harper.
In 2005, Harper deployed to Camp Victory in Baghdad, Iraq as Officer In Charge of the Joint Combat Camera team. Though he deployed with the Air Force, it was a joint environment, so Harper found himself reporting to an Army colonel and supervising about 40 grunts.
The first day he reported to Army HQ, those soldiers jumped on the chance to give him a hard time about his hair (which is probably a good thing — you only haze the people you like, right? Right?).
"I learned my schedule was intense and I wouldn't be able to get someone else to cut it, but I wasn't going to endure this mockery again, so I thought, 'How hard can this be? I'm just going to cut it myself…'"
He lucked out — the Post Exchange sold Wahl clippers.
That night at 0200 he finally found some spare time to cut his hair.
Also read: These are the rules NATO allies have about growing beards
With no practical experience selecting clipper guards, Harper wasn't exactly sure what he was doing, but the Wahl gear was pretty intuitive and he even managed to fade it on the sides.
"So I officially did it. I cut my own hair."
He then walked proudly into the Air Force tent.
Check out the video below to see their reaction:
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