RAF Beards...?
 

I'm hearing murmurings that beards in the RAF are soon to be acceptable without needing to blag a 'sensitive skin' chit from the SMO. Anyone in a position to substantiate the rumour?

Apart from Sikhs, I only new of one airman excused shaving. On the one occasion he was told to shave to prove his skin was sensitive it was suspected that he used something irritant to bring up a rash and continue with his beard.

Excused shaving chits.
 

A new Cdt Plt in my UAS student times appeared with a beard. A bit of a poseur, he also affected a triple-barrelled surname. He was tolerated until the new boss arrived. Who addressed him by the third element of his surname and told him to produce a medical reason for having a beard. "Otherwise you have 2 choices - it goes or you go". He failed to produce a chit, so was soon off the squadron. No loss really.

When I was a QFI, one of my new students was a Sikh. So one day I rang clothing stores and requested that they obtained an official RAF-pattern turban, Sikhs for the use of. "A what, Sir?" said the stores chap. So I repeated myself and he agreed to put in a demand....

….some weeks later, my phone rang and the stores chap announced "The turban is now in stores, Sir - if you could ask the Sikh lad to come down and sign for it" . "Ahh - bit of a problem there, sorry - the CFI chopped him a week ago". "So what am I supposed to do with this effing turban, Sir?" …… "Seek out another Sikh, perhaps?".

It was probably still gathering dust in stores when Abingdon closed....:hmm:

You mean the white plimsolls have gone?

There was an aircrew officer at Tengah in the late 60s with a beard ... sensitive skin case. I have to say it looked really strange!

Must be in anticipation of making Prince Harry an Honorary Air Commodore of somewhere........

......... although Prince Michael wears a beard in his RAF uniform ......

https://c1.staticflickr.com/6/5470/9...a80430da_b.jpg

..... and "no shaving" chits might not be all they're cracked up to be. Many years ago I returned from a long exped (OK - camping in the sun!) with quite a respectable beard (NB oxymoron!). My neighbour was the MO whose rection was:

"Cracking beard Teeters! ..... Do you want a chit to keep it??"

MPN11
There was a Navigator at Tengah in 64/65 who had a well trimmed Naval style ginger beard. He was on an exchange tour with the FAA and disembarked from a carrier.
He had requested "Permission to grow" for the carrier (HMS Victorious?) captain, who unaware of RAF regs, had given permission. Eventually had to give it up.
Was this the guy you were thinking off?

Never mind the beard, is that the correct sword belt for a 3* in #7? He needs to learn how to fasten his tie as well.

On a Course at a RAF Ski School in Gulmarg (Kashmir) in December 1945, it was so cold that shaving was painful. There was a blanket "permission to grow" for the month of the Course. Results were not impressive.

On return down to the warm plains of India, you had to get rid of whatever beard you'd grown. Best to get a professional to do the job!

Everyone I knew with a permanent "beard chit" in the RAF gleefully shaved it off at their retirement point.
One even came back to work in the same office as a clean shaven civil servant.
Well done Frank K!

In these enlightened times, if Sikhs & Muslims are allowed beards then so should everyone else be. Can't be seen to be practising religious discrimination!

And that's a non-Air Rank Sword, too.

​​​​​​​Just saying.

There was an F4 nav with permanent beard---- known as the talking armpit.

On a pleasant detachment with 115 Squadron, as the Paras came back to Brize from the victory down south, there was a bearded Nav on one of my joy rides in the Andover. I was fascinated by his full set, as I had never seen one on my time in the UAS. Having been told you had to have a medical reason to wear one, I wondered what was up with said Nav. He looked the picture of health to me. Alas he decided I wasn't worth acknowledging and I never found out why he was sporting the facial hair.

In the British Army the only person who would normally have a beard on parade would be the Pioneer Sergeant, complete with butchers leather apron and highly polished axe. The French Foreign Legion, when on Bastille Day parades, march past with up to thirty six pioneers, all with leather aprons and beards.

Indeed! It would be a very brave and utterly stupid person who dared to suggest to Les Képis Blancs that the aprons and beards aren't very military...

..... together with pipe majors in Scottish regiments, as well as some drum majors and personal pipers, and of course those allowed to wear a set for religious reasons.

Jack (aka Jock)

Former kipper fleet members may remember a Welsh Nimrod captain who sported a very impressive beard. I only got got to know him after he retired but I remember passing him in the street in uniform once when he was still serving and doing a quick double take as it looked so bizarre.

Sword belt and tie apart, I think The Duke of Kent looks pretty good with the beard. Strong family resemblance to the Czar (Nicholas II, not Putin!)

Yes Jock, I forgot about them! :)

Beards may interfere with the use of an oxygen mask.

4Greens, I've often heard that - but it didn't seem to be an issue for a certain well-known naval Sea Harrier pilot...:confused:

4Greens
Did not appear to be a problem for the Luftwaffe F104 pilots in the 60's. They could often be seen with beards similar to the "Greybeard" legionnaire on the March Past clip.
Coupled with waist length hair and an orange coloured flying suit, they seemed quite exotic creatures to us RAF types in our blue flying suits and "short back and sides" haircuts.

4 Greens
 

Thats just not true I’m afraid. Trust me.

BV

Well the US Navy and the FAA among others think it is true
https://www.faa.gov/regulations_poli...cumentID/22765

Its nothing to do with o2 leaks that they ban facial hair with O2 masks. Although if you have hydrocarbons on your clothes it can flash combust them.

Its all to do with partial pressure of O2 required to flash burn the rotten food and other deposits in said facial hair.

Suggest you soak some horse hair in bacon grease/dripping and then blow 100% oxygen over it. And see what happens.

Oxygen also has a habit of burning up the flow and can and does set the regulator on fire as well. So you can end up with a burning lump of aluminium and you breathing the fumes in the mask.

I suppose you could say you could have a beard but enforce a degreasing wash of the facial hair before flight.

Didn't one of the Apollo crews get cooked alive in a pure o2 fire while doing preflight checks?

No Shaving Chit
 

I seem to recall that a permanent 'no shaving chit' had to be signed off by a 1* Medical Officer.

If male personnel are allowed beards because it would be religious discrimination not to allow them, then it will be sexual discrimination if females weren't allowed beards.

Good point O-D; as WRNS are now all RN, perhaps it is already so with them?

Jock ATC at Lossie, retired, became OC Tain. Beard both before and after retirement.

The other trick though was no-shave chit before going on leave. On return with a full set you could not shave until inspected by MO and given clean bill of health :)

Tengah Type, I must admit that I find the idea of a ZZ Top look alike climbing out of an F-104G in front of RAF slug-balancers quite hilarious....

(Good TBs at the Rose and Crown last Thursday!)