female hair and the military

Hello, Amanda.

I grew up in a military household, and unless things have changed drasically lately, you don't have to have your hair cut quite that short. All the U.S. services (except the Air Force) require a shoulder/collar length cut during basic training. After that you are allowed to grow your hair as long as you wish with the only stipulation being that you have to pin it all up above your collar and fit your hat normally when you are in uniform.

I suppose there could be some special forces groups with more particular requirements.

Teresa

I don't know which army the article referred to, but it can't surely be the U.S. or British ones. I believe their rules are for "short but functional", ie collar length.

However I do recall a tv documentary about the Australian army where the girls were given butch "wedge" cuts, and as I recall they quite liked it as it suited their tough image, but maybe that's Aussies for you! :-)

I recently read on another board a post by a woman
who had joined the army and was forced by them to
have her waist length hair cut off with the clippers so
that it was only an inch long on top and half an inch at
the sides.

I thought this only happened to men. Does anyone
know what the military regulations are for women's hair
or have personal experience of this sort of thing?