Close Shaves, Haircuts, and Tattoos, Oh My!

A while back I blogged about military grooming and the changes taking place in the Army standards. Women wearing earrings with ACUs (the camouflage uniform), visible tattoos and soldiers carrying around cell phones may be a thing of the past.

All of this is intended to get that good military "look", and I tend to agree with the changes. I find it funny that during grungy Basic Training situations (or any military event including combat), good hygiene and grooming were still things a military member was supposed to strive for. Men need to be close shaved, women can't have their hair touch the collar, and you better not smell or the drill sergeants will be after you. I remember there were a few smelly girls in my Basic Training platoon who tried to ditch the shower because we were so rushed after PT to get to the next formation. The drill sergeants got wind of this (literally!) and had our platoon guide stand outside the shower with a platoon roster on a clipboard, checking our naked bodies off that we were clean!

If you served in the military, share your haircut, hygiene, or other memorable grooming stories like trying to stay clean in combat, the first haricut where it all came off (for you guys), the smelly platoon mate, you get the idea. Comment below, or better yet add it as a story in the forum where more people may see it.

Happy Reminiscing!

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Comment by Robert (Bob) Peters on January 12, 2012 at 10:33am: Most of the recruits at Great Lakes were around 17 or 18 so many of us didn't even start shaving until we arrived at boot camp. We had to be clean shaven every morning when we gathered for inspection. I recall this particular morning when one of our men did not shave (not a first offender). The Company drill instructor went to him and dry shaved him right there on the spot. It was not pretty! Needless to say this recruit never went without a clean shaved face from that day forward. Also I remember the days of the sailor shower on board ship - USS CHARLES R WARE DD865 - Wet down and shut the water off and then rinse down and get out. At sea fresh water was scarce as we made our own water by distilling it from sea water. Even today I still use this same formula to conserve water and energy.

Comment by Eugene Patrick Meechan on January 12, 2012 at 8:29am: I got my first hair cut in 1966 at Great Lakes .It was in Oct ,Nov and Dec it was cold.we washed our cloes in hot water and took showers in cold.I got 1 tatoo in service that was in Hawaii.When I was in the Air Guard we did a summer camp at Vanderburg air base in Califonia we were all told to get hair cut before we went and some of did.But when we got there and got off the plain we were ment by you are on a Sac base go get hair cuts all of you.We got boot camp cuts.not to happy.