--- title: "No, an Army captain did not forbid his soldiers from having mustaches to raise APFT scores" description: "The Army W.T.F! Moments Facebook page on Monday posted a memo written by a 3rd Infantry Division company commander telling his soldiers that only the fittest among them will be allowed to sprout facial hair under their warrior nostrils. Too bad it was just a joke" date: "2019-08-20" modified: "2019-08-20" authors: - name: "Jeff Schogol" job_title: "Senior Pentagon Reporter" link: "https://taskandpurpose.com/authors/jeff-schogol.md" url: "https://taskandpurpose.com/news/army-mustache-policy-joke-memo/" categories: - "Analysis" - "Army" - "Military Branches" - "News" --- # No, an Army captain did not forbid his soldiers from having mustaches to raise APFT scores ![]() Despite what you may have heard, the Army has not declared war on mustaches. The Army W.T.F! Moments Facebook page on Monday posted a memo written by a 3rd Infantry Division company commander telling his soldiers that only the fittest among them will be allowed to sprout facial hair under their warrior nostrils. "During my tenure at Battle Company, I have noticed a direct correlation between mustaches and a lack of physical fitness," the memo says. "In an effort to increase the physical fitness of Battle Company, mustaches will not be authorized for any soldier earning less than a 300 on the APFT \[Army Physical Fitness Test\]." While it's true the Army is embracing the suck when it comes to physical fitness – including adopting a new Army Combat Fitness Test – this particular experiment in lethality is actually a joke. The memo was actually a "light hearted attempt at humor," said Maj. Pete Bogart, a spokesman for the 3rd Infantry Division. It was never published as an official policy letter. "The commander read the memo to his soldiers at a close out formation and then discarded it after which someone took a picture of it and sent it to Army WTF Moments," Bogart told Task & Purpose. "All soldiers in the company are authorized to grow facial hair in accordance with AR 670-1 policies." This is not the first time an Army satirist has been taken seriously. In 2010, then-Staff Sgt. A.J. Merrifield, author of "BOB on the FOB Comics," sent his friend a mock Army message claiming the service had [changed the term "battle buddy" to "warrior companion."]() Merrifield meant it to be a private joke, but within days the fake message went viral – and the term "warrior companion" has never really gone away since. ## Author Jeff Schogol is the former senior Pentagon reporter for Task & Purpose. He reported on both the Department of Defense as a whole and individual services, covering a variety of topics that include personnel, policy, military justice, deployments, and technology. ### Author social links [Instagram]() [LinkedIn]() [Twitter]() ## More - [This British sniper may have the deadliest mustache in the world]() - [Army will now tie retention bonuses to PT scores, job performance]() - [Marine commanding officers have final say on medical shaving exemptions]() - [Army releases details on new test for combat arms soldiers]() - [Hegseth announces troops in combat jobs have to meet highest male physical standards]() - [Army reverses course on banning fun and games for soldiers in Kuwait]() - [Army Captain Gives Everything She Has To Earn A Coveted Decoration]() - [Good Army recruiters won’t have to carry weight of ‘ineffective’ ones under new policy]()