CF Hair Regulations - superthread [MERGED]

[Bzzliteyr]

Of course, there are rules.. then there are the rules that the individual RSMs get to apply.. but here is the quote from the dress regs minus the female and cultural parts....

"HAIR

4. Hair on the head shall be neatly groomed
and conservatively styled. The length, bulk or style of
hair shall not detract from a positive military
appearance or preclude the proper wear of military
headdress. (Bulk is the distance that the mass of hair
extends from the skin, when groomed, as opposed to
the length of hair.) In particular, style and colour shall
not present a bizarre, exaggerated, or unusual
appearance. Unusual colours, such as green, bright
red, orange, purple, etc., are not permitted. Hair must
be secured or styled back to reveal the face, and any
accessories used to secure or control hair styles shall
be as unobtrusive as possible. Hair ornaments shall
not be worn, except women’s conservative barrettes
which blend with the hair colour. Shaving of all of the
hair on the head is permitted. The personal manner
of wearing hair within these general style limits,
including moustaches, beards and braids, shall be
modified to the degree necessary to accommodate
operational or occupational equipment, such as gas,
oxygen and scuba masks, hard, combat and flying
helmets, etc., where a member’s safety or mission is
put in jeopardy.


5. The following additional details apply to
specific groups to accord with cultural rights and
public perceptions of a disciplined force:

a. Men (see Figure 2-2-1). Hair shall be taper-trimmed
at the back, sides, and above the
ears to blend with the hair-style; be no more
than 15 cm (6 in.) in length and sufficiently
short that, when the hair is groomed and
headdress is removed, no hair shall touch
the ears or fall below the top of the
eyebrows; be no more than 4 cm (1-1/2 in.)
in bulk at the top of the head, gradually
decreasing to blend with the taper-trimmed
sides and back; and be kept free from the
neck to a distance of 2.5 cm (1 in.) above the
shirt collar. Taper trimmed square back
styles and shaving of all the hair on the head
are permitted.

(1) Sideburns. Sideburns shall not extend
below a line horizontally bisecting the
ear, and shall be squared off
horizontally at the bottom edge and
taper-trimmed to conform to the overall
hair style.


(2) Moustaches (see Figure 2-2-2). When
moustaches are worn alone, the
unshaven portion of the face shall not
extend outwards beyond the corners of
the mouth. Moustaches shall be kept
neatly trimmed; not be greater than 2
cm (3/4 in.) in bulk; not extend below
the corners of the mouth, not protrude
beyond the width of the face when fully
extended horizontally and worn in a
waxed, handlebar style."


Hope that helps

 

[combat_medic]

The key thing to remember about all of this is CONSERVATIVE. One guy in my unit with light brown hair had his hair tipped blonde, and it was fine because it was subtle and not noticeable. I, myself have red highlights in my hair, and no one has even noticed. However, if you have jet black hair and try to get away with bleaching it blonde, think again. It‘s an obvious unnatural combination, and I doubt any self-respecting CSM would let it go.

Then again, some of the more slack and idle units (no names) allow all sorts of nonsense in terms of hair, outrageous makeup, jewlery etc..

 

[Michael Dorosh]

The crap about "it‘s under my hat anyway" is particularly funny. If you go into a civvie restaurant, you take your hat off. If you go into an Army mess, you take your hat off. None of which is even remotely the point, anyway. If you are really having trouble understanding why we have standards of dress and deportment, maybe you need to re-evaluate why you joined the Forces in the first place.

 

[PTE Gruending]

I asked a question on regulations on highlighting/colouring of hair... Mr. Dorosh, guess those of us who dye our hair are inferior, slack and idle soldiers, time for us to turn in out kit since we can‘t understand uniformity...

If you are really having trouble understanding why we have standards of dress and deportment, maybe you need to re-evaluate why you joined the Forces in the first place.

 

[Bruce Monkhouse]

I must agree with PTE Gruending. I always tried to look a little different than the rest so I guess I should re-evaluate the ten years I did?? And to think I was proud of it.

 

[Bzzliteyr]

Asked my SSM today.. after my other post... He said that hair should not go to extremes, and that‘s all, "conservative" is the word he used.. As for the whole "your hair has to match your ID card" that some people state, then the same thing would apply to people‘s growing of facial hair he said!! If you have a moustache in your ID picture, then by rights, you HAVE to have a moustache!

 

[Padraig OCinnead]

What I have to say about guys colouring their hair won‘t be liked much, but I‘ll take the slams that will come with it. I think that it‘s okay for my wife to dye her hair. And maybe old ladies should dye their hair too. Fighting soldiers should have more important things than running about with frosted hair. Some MWO‘s must be absolutly eating their berets over this. VVV

 

[PTE Gruending]

Patraig, well everyone is entitled to their own opinion, so i say "to each his own". And regarding your comments; I think that this is a reserve issue, for the most part, as we are living on civy street as opposed to being full time troops.

Of course uniformity must be maintained, however there are so many examples of where the rules are bent or broken; females with long hair, mustaches, navy/pioneer beards, wedding rings, makeup for females, religious necklaces, and cultural items (ie: a beard for your religion, etc).

 

[greeneyedboy]

Where can I find the manual outlining proper hair cuts online . I know there are some on paper but I can‘t get access to it

 

[kurokaze]

Hmm, I can‘t seem to find it specifically either. But if you have the reference number here are the links to the QR&Os and CFAOs.

QR&O:
http://www.dnd.ca/admfincs/subjects/qr_o/intro_e.asp

CFAO:
http://www.forces.gc.ca/admfincs/subjects/cfao/intro_e.asp

 

[girlfiredup]

This doesn‘t go into great detail but does offer some info on hair standards :

http://www.army.forces.gc.ca/lf/English/1_3_3.asp#HairStandards

 

[Padraig OCinnead]

Pte Grueling,

I liked your response. But I feel a bit different about the reserve/regular issue. Here‘s what I think.
We all serve the same master. I never really thought differently about militia/reserve soldiers/sailor/airmen(women). We all choose this lifestyle knowing that it means giving up many priveledges in order to wear the uniform. In doing this we are better for the choice.

Reserve, Regular it‘s all the same to me.

 

[Piper]

Re: Pte. Grueling‘s most recent post.

It has been a while since I had the opportunity to review the regulations for dress and deportment (spent the better part of 9 months reading them in the Regimental QMS at the 49th Fd. Regt. RCA) - but I do believe there were provisions for "cultural items" such as the religious beard he believes is a broken rule.

As for moustaches, ‘twas always explained to me while serving that the part of the moustache that was contained within the perimeter of the face and above the lip belonged to the soldier -- anything else belonged to the Army and was theirs to deal with as they pleased. Hence the sharply pointed and heavily waxed handlebar moustaches that looked like they could pull in a Buffalo TV station on a good day.

Neil

 

[pte anthony]

Take a .5 inch off the top and make sure the back and sides are tapered into the top the shorter the hair cut the less you will have to worry about cutting it and getting jacked over it. :soldier:

 

[dwild40]

Only if you are Native may you have long hair. I worked on the production crew for the annual Pow Wow at the sky dome last fall and it was cool to see a Sgt and a M/Cpl in dress uniforms with braids down to their waists.

 

[CWeb26F]

Depends which base you are posted to also- in my experience Air Force bases are a lot more lax when it comes to dress standards.

Also your MOC and rank matter I remember one doctor (a Major)who we nicknamed Shaggy- he had the most wonderful curly locks halfway down his neck.

 

[Franko]

Here you go......

HAIRCUTS MALE PERSONNEL: HAIR SHALL BE TAPER-TRIMMED AT THE BACK SIDES, AND ABOVE THE EARS TO BLEND WITH THE HAIR-STYLE: BE NO MORE THAN 15 CM (6 INCHES) IN LENGTH AND SUFFICIENTLY SHORT THAT, WHEN THE HAIR IS GROOMED AND HEAD-DRESS IS REMOVED, NO HAIR SHALL TOUCH THE EARS OR FALL BELOW THE TOP OF THE EYEBROWS: BE NO MORE THAN 4 CM (1-1/2 INCHES) IN BULK AT THE TOP OF THE HEAD, GRADUALLY DECREASING TO BLEND WITH THE TAPER-TRIMMED SIDES AND BE KEPT FREE FROM THE NECK TO A DISTANCE OF 2.5 CM (1 INCH) ABOVE THE SHIRT COLLAR. TAPER-TRIMMED SQUARE BACK HAIRCUTS ARE ALLOWED. THE SHAVING OF ALL THE HAIR ON THE HEAD IS PERMITTED

HAIRSTYLES FEMALE PERSONNEL: SHALL NOT EXTEND BELOW THE LOWER EDGE OF THE SHIRT COLLAR, EXAGGERATED STYLES, INCLUDING THOSE WITH EXCESSIVE FULLNESS OR EXTREME HEIGHT IS NOT AUTHORIZED. RAIDS, IF WORN, SHALL BE STYLED CONSERVATIVELY AND TIED TIGHTLY, SECURED AT THE END BY A KNOT OR A SMALL UNADORNED FASTENER. A SINGLE BRAID SHALL BE WORN IN THE CENTRE OF THE BACK. DOUBLE BRAIDS SHALL BE WORN BEHIND THE SHOULDERS. HAIR SHALL BE A MAXIMUM LENGTH, WHEN GATHERED BEHIND THE HEAD OR BRAIDED, WHICH DOES NOT EXTEND BELOW THE TIP OF THE ARMPIT. WITH THE PERMISSION OF A COMMANDING OFFICER, A 60-DAY TRANSITION PERIOD MAY BE GRANTED TO A FEMALE MEMBER TO GROW HER HAIR LONGER FOR RE-STYLING, DURING WHICH TIME HAIR MAY EXTEND BELOW THE
LOWER EDGE OF THE SHIRT COLLAR ALL THE WHILE MAINTAINING A POSITIVE MILITARY APPEARANCE, AND SUBJECT TO THE MEMBER S SAFETY


If you are lax in your dress standards you are at fault and are chargable under the CoSD. "Shaggy" should have been made an example of by the CO of that unit, or at least sorted out.

Regards

 

[Yes Man]

Originally posted by Franko:
[qb] Here you go......

HAIRCUTS MALE PERSONNEL:BE NO MORE THAN 15 CM (6 INCHES) IN LENGTH [/qb]

What area of your head can you grow to 15cm? that seems rather long.

 

[Franko]

Don‘t ask me....my hair cut is always .5 on sides and back with about 1/2 inch on top.

Long hair hippies if you ask me...more than likely made that long for officers in the Air Force.

Regards

 

[girlfiredup]

What about women? My hair is long and I‘m not getting it cut! I read the standards are that women can wear their hair in a varying of styles as long as it doesn‘t interfere with the proper wearing of military headdress and that long hair must be worn in a braid but does it have to be off the shoulders or can the piece be left down?