We recently had haircut regulations reinforced throughout the military. I say “reinforced” because in truth, these were the regulations all along –at least for male haircuts– but adherence to the regulations had become a little relaxed over time.

We’ve always been allowed a maximum of 2 inches (5.08 cm) of hair on the top of our heads, with the expectation that the hair on the sides of our heads would be shorter. A lot of popular men’s haircuts these days have short sides with a lot of “foof” on top, and in the Reserves and National Guard you’ve got people that spend 90% of their time in the civilian world, so sometimes people might look the other way as long as haircuts aren’t too extreme.

Recently, our Secretary of Defense (he calls himself “Secretary of War” but only Congress has the power to change the names of departments, and an official petition has not been presented so far) has decided that there will be no more looking the other way– regulations will be strictly enforced.

Alvarez has always had a bit of a “mop top” that pushed the boundaries of regulations– hey, we all have that guy, you know? But now Joe is letting him know that won’t fly any more.

What about the higher-ups? Most (in my experience) do try to do the right thing but sometimes corners are cut for rank. Will the classic “comb-over” that salves the pride of so many senior leaders be allowed to slip by?

Happy New Year, and welcome back to the regular feature!