Sailor asks Navy leaders if service will cover more frequent haircuts

Could the Navy consider a haircut allowance for sailors as the service cracks down on grooming standards across the force?

One sailor posed the question to Navy leadership at a live town hall livestreamed from Fort George G. Meade on Monday. The top officer and enlisted sailor in the Navy seemed somewhat receptive to considering it, but also said that some things are generally just “out-of-pocket” costs that troops have to cover themselves.

Chief of Naval Operations Adm. Daryl Caudle admitted the sailors’ public suggestion was one he had not heard or considered.

“As we impose stricter policies and hold you accountable, should there be some type of method by which we compensate for that? I guess some things just are going to be, I would say out-of-pocket, to basically make sure you’re keeping your grooming,” Caudle said. “But does that mean I can’t go look at maybe some more barber shops ashore and integrate it into facilities like where you work and actually alleviate some of the costs of that? I think that’s something we probably should look at.”

“It’s a fair suggestion. We’ll go take a look at it,” Master Chief Petty Officer of the Navy John Perryman said.

Leaders address Lincoln deployment, quality of life

The question was one of many at the town hall where Caudle and Perryman addressed general quality of life, retention and career topics, as well as recent reports of issues stemming from record-breaking deployments of Navy ships in support of ongoing U.S. operations against Iran.

Over the last few months, Navy leadership has faced negative reports on issues ranging from food shortages and suicide attempts aboard the long-deployed Abraham Lincoln to questions about barracks at home and a broad crackdown on grooming rules and near-elimination of shaving waivers for sailors with medical conditions.

In particular, the two addressed reports that emerged during the USS Lincoln’s nearly 300-day deployment, including reports of deteriorating mental health in crew members aboard the aircraft carrier. Navy officials originally denied that there was an “increase in reported suicidal ideation or suicide attempts” aboard the Lincoln. But officials said they were sending more mental health support to the ship and the head of U.S. Central Command personally visited the carrier following concerns.

At the town hall, Caudle said the service was taking lessons learned from the Lincoln deployment to look at logistics issues like getting on-time food and hygiene product shipments, ship repairs, and more port calls for deployed ships.

“The fact that the USS Ford had more port calls than the Abe [Lincoln] did certainly has weighed into the quality of life that those sailors have,” Caudle said, referencing a similarly long deployment for the USS Gerald Ford. “Being at sea a long time, our entire model is predicated on getting to a port, enjoy that port call, relax, take a knee, rejuvenate, get the ship back up to speed again, repair anything necessary, and get back in that fight. So we’re working hard on what port calls in the Arabian Gulf theater can look like.

“I want you to rest assured we are learning from this, and we’re going to make sure that every carrier goes into that theater a little bit better than we did the last time.”

‘Grooming allowance’ to cover rising costs

But the cost of a grooming crackdown — both in dollars and in morale — was clearly on the mind of some sailors. Following a series of edicts from Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth for a “clean-shaven” military, the Navy has recently limited the number of medical shaving waivers given out to sailors dealing with pseudofolliculitis barbae, a condition that disproportionately impacts Black men.

Mass Communication Specialist First Class Kyle Hafer, an instructor at the Defense Information School at Fort Meade, asked Caudle and Perryman if the Navy would consider allocating sailors extra money for haircuts in the same way that the military provides an annual allowance for uniforms. While haircuts and grooming for sailors assigned to a ship are covered while at sea, the sailor noted, he estimated that two shoreside haircuts each month for $20 and a $5 tip, could cost up to $600 a year.

“Could we introduce some type of grooming allowance into the military, or alternatively, offer free benefits for sailors to acquire haircuts at no cost on shoreside?” the sailor asked.

The Navy offers barber services at more than 80 Navy Exchange locations with haircut prices ranging from $14 to $20. However, many sailors can also opt for off-base barbers.