The Navy last week announced its latest round of guidance regarding facial hair grooming requirements and religious and medical accommodations.
Commands are now instructed to produce monthly facial hair accountability reports, specifically for those service members diagnosed with skin conditions such as Pseudofolliculitis Barbae, or razor bumps, according to the July 31 NavAdmin.
Commanding officers are instructed to maintain a log of personnel requiring medical facial hair treatment plans, the memo said. Commands must then “forward a Facial Hair Accommodation Accountability Report using Excel Spreadsheet by the 15th of each month, commencing August 2026.”
The updated July 31 memo expands upon the July 7 order in which the Navy announced that active duty and reserve sailors granted facial hair accommodations will be allowed to receive medical treatment for up to 12 months under new Navy grooming standards. If irritation from shaving is deemed incurable after 12 months, sailors will be evaluated for discharge.
Per the latest memo, the duration of treatment plans may not exceed 90 days at a time, with four consecutive 90-day waivers constituting 12 months of consecutive treatment.
Those approved for accommodation must carry a copy of the signed paperwork on their persons during periods of no shaving associated with medical appointments and interviews with the CO or designated command representative, according to the release.
After six months of continuous treatment, a review will take place with initial “counseling” for the affected sailor, the memo states. However, “personnel exceeding 12 months of treatment without attaining the ability to shave daily will be evaluated for continued naval service” and could face separation.
Administrative separations for affected sailors will begin Sept. 30, 2026.
In addition to the updated medical accommodations, the sea service laid out its latest religious accommodation requirements, noting that all previously approved and pending religious accommodation requests relative to facial hair must be resubmitted and reevaluated.
Those who did not update their previously approved religious accommodations beginning on June 10, 2026, will be processed for rescission.
Unapproved facial hair religious accommodation requests submitted prior to publication of the latest memo will not be processed and will be administratively closed, per the release. However, the memo also notes that for sailors “who have failed to submit an updated compliant RA request, Commanding Officers (CO) have until 7 August 2026 to submit to BUPERS-3.”
Sailors who are unable to comply with the updated timeline due to deployment, temporary additional duty, hospitalization “or other exceptional circumstances” must have their COs notify BUPERS-3 and submit an anticipated date of submission, per the release.
In June, the Navy released guidance on new procedures to redetermine whether individuals will be granted religious waivers to grow facial hair that does not adhere to military grooming standards.
To prove a sincere faith, service members were required to provide written testimony regarding their religious beliefs, as well as how clean-shaven grooming standards conflict with those beliefs.
Those requests were processed at the command level before being reviewed by a chaplain, who determined the veracity of the religious beliefs claimed.
Claire Barrett is an editor and military history correspondent for Military Times. She is also a World War II researcher with an unparalleled affinity for Sir Winston Churchill and Michigan football.
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