Posted on Oct 31, 2014
Why is it that officers are considered unprofessional who wear mustaches?
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Why is it that officers are considered unprofessional who wear mustaches? I have come from an NCO background of 10 years before becoming an officer and one of the first things I was told was lose the mustache. what is so different from having a mustache as an NCO to an officer
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Officers
Officers
Posted 10 y ago
Responses: 71
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This is the first I've heard about a perception difference between officers and NCOs regarding mustaches.
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LTC (Join to see)
No. In fact the last OER I wrote was for a gentleman with a mustache. It never once factored into my rating of his past performance nor future potential.
How does facial hair impact your ability to do staff work? It doesn't. Therefore, there's no issue here.
How does facial hair impact your ability to do staff work? It doesn't. Therefore, there's no issue here.
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It takes me forever to grow a good mustache, so I don't do it very often, but I have done it in the past and am planning on sporting one for our annual Movember celebration.
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1SG Michael Blount
LTC (Join to see) - take it from me, ma'am, you wouldn't look good in a moustache. Trust me, ok?
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I've never noticed that issue. I was just commissioned after 12 years enlisted service. I think I'll report to my next command with a mustache and see what happens.
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LCDR Bart Denny
An Army thing, clearly. Except, oh yeah, I do remember in my Joint tour, a few Army officers with mustaches.
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SSG Tim Everett
It's an Army thing -- my uncle retired as a Commander and he still maintains a mustache that still is probably skirting regs. Not sure what the Navy regs are, probably the same as the Army. My father is a retired Marine officer and he also wore a mustache, but only in Vietnam. Once he came home he shaved twice a day until he retired, and then a year later got tired of his long hair and beard.
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I wonder if Black Jack Pershing and Admiral Dewey told their subordinate officers to shave them off.
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It is just something that has happened over the years. There is no reg against them and I could not care less personally. I even sported one for a very short time but for the most part I do not see officers with them.
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The services have regulations and as long as you are within regulations there is nothing wrong with having a mustache. I have been in the Corps for 30+ years and an Officer for 17. Other than my tour with HMX-1, while at TBS and in 2012 I have worn a mustache and will retire with one. In HMX-1 there was an unwritten rule that we did not wear mustaches the same was true in TBS, in 2012 I just decided to try something new. Basically, what I am saying is to keep it in regulation and there is no problem. If you find that your Reporting Senior has an issue then you may have to make a decision.
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When I went in the Navy in 1980, mustaches and beards were very common with officers and enlisted, but only on ships. You couldn't tell military from civilian by looking at appearance. I guess things have changed a lot.
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Personally I don't grow a mustache because it seems like a pain to make sure it stays within the bounds allowed by AR 670-1. While I am not looking to sport the walrus mustache look, the regulation does seem particularly restrictive.
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1SG Michael Blount
SFC (Join to see) - When I was younger, something was always said about the length of my mustache, but that was it. When I went into Drill School, I tossed it and decided to just wear a mustache when deployed.
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1LT(P) (Join to see)
I went through the same thing. It was my first year of ROTC at NC State. I was walking into the building in civilian clothes when I was approached by the SMI. He said, "Officers don't wear mustaches." From the point, 4 years ago, never had a mustache. I guess its just one of those old traditions that we do in the Army.
I went through the same thing. It was my first year of ROTC at NC State. I was walking into the building in civilian clothes when I was approached by the SMI. He said, "Officers don't wear mustaches." From the point, 4 years ago, never had a mustache. I guess its just one of those old traditions that we do in the Army.
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