The request for changes had been submitted via the Guardians and Airmen Innovation Network, which allows Airmen and Guardians to submit and vote on ideas for change. The new changes to Department of the Air Force Instruction 36-2903 go into effect April 1. “I am writing you to make it clear that as we continue to look at this and other issues, we can and must act now to remove any stigma, or personal bias, toward those Airmen authorized to maintain facial hair, either for medical or religious reasons.” “With each change we make to expand opportunity to serve and reduce artificial barriers, I am keenly aware the authorization of beards across the Total Force is at the forefront for many,” Bass wrote in her memo. Earlier this month, the military’s top enlisted service member, Senior Enlisted Advisor to the Joint Chiefs of Staff Ramón Colón-López, was criticized by some on social media for dismissing the push for lifting the beard ban as an attempt “to look cute.” Bass released a memo saying that facial hair policy, and the stigma that many shaving waiver holders report facing, is on her mind. On the same day the uniform changes were announced, Chief Master Sergeant of the Air Force JoAnne S. “We are a part of a joint force that represents our nation and also considers the policies and procedures of our sister-services,” the spokesperson said.
