Patches, Nail Polish, Shaving: Dress and Grooming Standards 

By Chris Gordon and David Roza

Airmen were subject to new uniform, grooming, and appearance standards starting Feb. 1, senior Air Force leaders announced Jan. 29.

Among the changes: Duty Identifier Patches are no longer authorized, hair cannot touch a male Airman’s ears, Airmen must shave every day if they do not have a medical or religious waiver, and female Airmen must comply with tighter restrictions on nail polish. Airmen with a shaving waiver will have to be reevaluated within 90 days of their next Periodic Health Assessment (PHA), starting March 1.

The updated appearance standards are outlined in a memorandum from Chief of Staff Gen. David W. Allvin, who sent a message to the force about the changes on Jan. 29. The Air Force also issued a separate memorandum on the updated shaving waiver process.

The new guidelines come about three weeks after Allvin announced a review of dress and appearance standards and said the Air Force would begin to more strictly enforce regulations.

“Earlier this month I released a video explaining why our service is reviewing certain policies and standards to ensure they are easy to understand, easy to comply with, and easy to enforce across our entire Air Force. Today, I am following through on my promise to swiftly distribute updates,” Allvin wrote to Airmen in an email that was provided to Air & Space Forces Magazine. “As you review the memoranda and take action to ensure compliance, never forget that discipline and accountability are, and always will be, the backbone of an effective and lethal fighting force. Complying with and enforcing standards demonstrates shared commitment to our winning team, as well as an understanding of the gravity of our profession in today’s volatile security environment.”

Allvin also released a video explaining why he was getting rid of Duty Identifier Patches, which are also known as Career Field Identifier patches—such as “SF” for Security Forces, “MUNS” for munitions, “PA” for Public Affairs, and many more. The patches have become commonplace on the sleeves of many Airmen’s fatigues, but they are no longer authorized as of Feb. 1.

According to Air Force Instruction 36-2903, more than 130 patches have been authorized.

“This is a lot of tabs,” Allvin said. “Under the principle that we have of ‘easy to understand, easy to comply with, easy to enforce,’ this fails that test. But there’s a bigger issue at play here: as we identify ourselves as one type of Airman or another, with one specialty or one skill set or another, we really diminish ourselves. While that is a contribution we make, our real value is our integral part of a winning, warfighting team. And that’s what we want to emphasize: that we value the team over the individual.”

Still allowed are arch-shaped tabs signifying a special, unique qualification or training, such as “Air Advisor” or “Arctic,” as are graduate patches, such as ones from the Air Force Weapons School, and command patches.

Shaving Waivers

The new shaving waiver guidance covers both the Air Force and Space Force and comes about five years after the Air Force began issuing five-year medical shaving waivers for Airmen with pseudofolliculitis barbae (PFB), also known as razor bumps, a skin condition caused by ingrown hairs that makes shaving painful and can lead to scarring if skin is not given a chance to heal.

The problem with that policy is that it did not give clear guidance on differentiating PFB from shaving irritation, which can be avoided or treated with proper shaving technique and topical steroids, said Air Force Surgeon General Lt. Gen. John J. DeGoes in a Jan. 27 video statement.

“This lack of standardized guidance has led to inconsistencies in how shaving profiles are issued and managed across our force,” he said.

A memo from DeGoes said extended duration shaving profiles are generally reserved for severe cases of PFB, “while mild-to-moderate cases may benefit from more frequent management, follow-ups, and temporary shaving profiles.”

New guidance will arrive starting March 1 that should make it easier for providers to differentiate between PFB and irritation, DeGoes said. But that means all Airmen with a waiver must be reevaluated by a health care provider. Current shaving profiles are valid for now, but they will expire 90 calendar days after the profile holder’s next PHA. The policy does not apply to religious accommodation shaving waivers.

An anonymous health care provider told Air & Space Forces Magazine that the goal is to use new tools, including a clinical algorithm, updated guidance, and a workflow in Military Health System Genesis to make PFB waiver decisions more consistent.

“We’re going to take a second look at every waiver, and we’re trying to provide health care providers with more tools to make more informed decisions, just to ensure that everyone who’s on a waiver actually needs that waiver,” the provider said.

The algorithm is not perfect, because even experienced dermatologists can have a tough time differentiating PFB from skin irritation. In the civilian world, it’s not a problem to avoid shaving, so there is not as much research and guidance to find the discrepancies between PFB and irritation.

But if an Airman or Guardian is on the edge between irritation and PFB, the provider might recommend they try different techniques and topical steroids to avoid irritation. If that doesn’t work and they are not interested in laser hair removal, then there’s still the five-year waiver option.

Reevaluating all shaving waivers is likely to create a massive administrative toll. Every Airman and Guardian takes a PHA, but those are often conducted virtually and exist more to refer patients to specialists.

“Airmen and Guardians are going to have to make a separate appointment with their provider to then have it looked at,” the anonymous provider said. “It’s a huge administrative burden that they’re going to be putting on the providers to support this over the next 365 days.”

Those providers may themselves refer patients to dermatologists, some of whom already have three-month waitlists.

“They’re basically just going to be running shaving waiver clinics,” said the provider, who anticipated that most providers would make the same waiver decision simply to get through the backlog of reevaluations.

Readiness

The new policy for nail polish restricts female Airmen to “clear or French and American manicure,” which typically consists of white tips and a clear or skin-colored base. The move seemingly slashes dozens of colors that were approved last year, and service officials could not immediately provide a guide for what shades are now permitted.

Chief Master Sergeant of the Air Force David A. Flosi issued a statement touting all new rules as necessary for readiness.

“Our unmatched war-winning capability is built on the strength and readiness of our Airmen. Clear and enforceable standards are the bedrock for our ready and lethal flying force,” Flosi said. “Our Airmen live a life of service; we are in the Profession of Arms. We are committed to defending our nation, deterring our foes, and, if necessary, we will defeat them.”

The Air Force said the changes were not made in response to recent Executive Orders by President Donald Trump that have sought to make cultural and policy changes to the military.

“General Allvin and service senior leadership—both officer and enlisted—have been collaborating on an approach to renew our force’s commitment and adherence to standards for months now,” Lt. Col. Karl Wiest, a spokesperson for Allvin, said in an email. He said the issue was discussed at senior leader meetings, including the high-level CORONA gathering last year, which occurred during the Biden administration.

“These updates were not directed by the new administration,” Wiest said, “but they do effectively contribute to the Department of Defense’s renewed focus on lethality, accountability, standards, and readiness.”           

Military Pay is Competitive—For Now

By David Roza

Service members are for the most part paid more than their civilian counterparts, but there are still ways the Pentagon can better compensate troops and their families, according to a new Department of Defense report—including changes to how it calculates allowances for housing and cost of living.

The 14th Quadrennial Review of Military Compensation (QRMC) is a sweeping look at the military compensation system, including basic pay, housing allowance, cost-of-living allowance, child care incentives, bonuses, and other benefits.

Those benefits have come under scrutiny in recent years, as troops reported unaffordable housing near their station assignments, food insecurity, and difficulty for spouses trying to find work. Federal lawmakers flagged several of those challenges in a Quality of Life Panel Report released last April. Those concerns “lent a sense of urgency” to work on this QRMC, which started back in 2023, according to the report.

“We know through long-standing research and lived experience that when the department prioritizes the basic needs of its service members and families to include fundamental quality-of-life factors, our members are better able to focus on their mission to defend the nation,” a senior defense official told reporters Jan. 15. “This requires a competitive compensation package to incentivize both the next generation to serve, as well as recognizing and retaining military skill sets that we have today.”

Overall, the report made eight recommendations to improve the system, grouped under three findings:

A. Military compensation is strongly competitive with the civilian labor market, but it needs to remain that way:

Keep military compensation above that of most civilian counterparts.
Better inform troops about their compensation and benefits by improving communication.
Make military service more appealing to recruits with highly sought after skills and experiences.

B. Reduce pay volatility by improving data collection and processing:

Update Basic Allowance for Housing methodology.
Improve methodology for the cost-of-living allowance.
Regularly review deployment entitlements.

C. Target noncash compensation to better retain service members and their families:

Expand retirement savings options, child care support, and spouse employment initiatives.
Institute a regular quality-of-life review.

Pay Raise

The first of the QRMC’s three core findings is that the overall military compensation package is “strongly competitive” with the civilian labor market. On average, enlisted troops make more money than 82 percent of their civilian counterparts with similar education and experience, while officers make more than 75 percent, the report found.

But competition with the civilian market remains fierce, and recent recruiting challenges showed officials that the military has to keep its troops in the 75th to 80th percentile for enlisted troops and around the 75th percentile for officers. Maintaining that edge will require keeping a close eye on civilian pay, the report said.

The edge should grow this year as the 2025 National Defense Authorization Act will raise basic pay 14.5 percent for junior enlisted troops through the E-4 pay grade, in addition to a 4.5 percent pay raise for the rest of the military. The raise means enlisted troops will make more money than 87 percent of their equivalent civilian counterparts, while junior enlisted troops in particular will make more than 95 percent, the defense official said.

But the department needs to sweeten the pot for “lateral entrants,” the term for recruits who join up with prior skills and qualifications such as in medicine and cybersecurity. Today, lateral entrants can come in at a higher rank, but not with more years of service, which limits their pay compared to troops at the same level who rose up through the ranks. The 14th QRMC called for expanding “constructive credits” to include both higher rank and years of service.

The military pay and compensation structure is complex, particularly when service members have to move or when there are changes in allowances. The report recommended that the military improve communication with troops so that they better understand their pay and benefits.

“While the QRMC found overall strength in the total compensation package, this does not seem to translate to service member satisfaction with military pay,” said the report, which called for clarifying key concepts and comparing pay to civilian options in the communications campaign.

Reduce Volatility

The other challenge with military pay and compensation, the report found, is how quickly it can respond to changing circumstances, and whether the data for informing those changes is adequate.

A key example is the Basic Allowance for Housing (BAH). Overall, the review found that BAH for service members with dependents is between 17 and 60 percent higher than average civilian housing expenditures. But BAH varies based on military housing area (MHA), and accurately setting the BAH for each pay grade in each MHA has been hit or miss. 

BAH rates are far more generous in some areas and for some pay grades than others, which can lead to confusion and frustration when troops change stations and find themselves with less spending power. Nationwide housing trends can also lead to discrepancies, such as when three-bedroom townhouses are more expensive on average than three-bedroom single-family homes.

To fix the issue, the report recommended replacing BAH calculations with a better model that will lead to more reliable, accurate, and stable BAH rates over time. It also called for ditching the current housing profile system—which categorizes housing as apartments, townhouses, and single-family homes with a set number of bedrooms each—in favor of one that focuses only on the number of bedrooms, which will better keep pace with housing trends.

“BAH profiles based on ‘number of bedrooms’ adds flexibility to more accurately estimate housing costs in remote or challenging markets with unique housing distributions,” the report said.

Former Chief Master Sergeant of the Air Force JoAnne S. Bass advocated for revamping how BAH is calculated back in 2022.

Service members receive combat zone tax exclusion and imminent danger pay for serving in regions that are hostile or dangerous, but these benefits can stay in place for decades. That means troops in some zones that are no longer hostile receive deployment entitlements while troops in more hostile areas do not. Entitlements need to be regularly reviewed every five years to ensure consistency, the report said.

Retain the Family

The 14th QRMC was the first to focus on “the realities of dual-income military households.” Most military spouses want to work, the report found, but frequent moves and changes in child care access reduce their ability to do so, which can in turn affect retention decisions.

Noncash compensation could help, the report said. For example, Congress could pass laws that would remove vesting requirements from pension plans so that military spouses are less affected by the loss of income induced by frequent moves. Other noncash compensation options include continued support for child care and employment initiatives.

Some of those noncash initiatives can be grouped under what the report called “quality-of-life,” factors such as housing, dining, base facilities, health care access, spouse employment, child care, and recreation. The report called for the Defense Department to conduct a periodic quality-of-life review to inform decisions in those areas, similar to the report Congress released last year.

The senior defense official told reporters that there has been some discussion about cycling between QRMCs and quality-of- life reviews so that the two inform each other.

“Is there value in investing that dollar in additional, you know, cash compensation changes, RMC changes?” the official said. “Or will we get a better return on investment for both recruiting and retention purposes if we put that next dollar into, say, quality of service programs as was mentioned before, barracks, dining, child care, military spouse employment efforts, things like that.”