The Air Force will soon require airmen and Space Force guardians with medical profiles for shaving to be evaluated every year by a healthcare professional to renew their waivers, according to an Air Force memo shared on social media.
The change represents a rollback of the waivers, which since 2020 have been issued for five years without annual renewals.
An Air Force official confirmed to Task & Purpose that the memo is authentic. A second official insisted the move is not connected with the service’s recent decision to dissolve its Barrier Analysis Working Groups, which had advocated for Black airmen with painful shaving conditions to be allowed to grow beards.
In a 2023 study, about 64% of respondents to a survey of Air Force members who had medical shaving waivers were Black, compared to about 16% of the entire Air Force.
The memo states that as of March 1, 2025, all currently issued medical shaving profiles will expire 90 days after an airmen or guardians’ next Periodic Health Assessment, or PHA. They will then have to be medically evaluated to receive another profile.
The move does not apply to religious accommodation shaving wavers.
The memo says that the Air Force typically provides extended shaving waivers to airmen and guardians suffering from severe cases of Pseudofolliculitis Barbae, or PFB, a painful skin condition in which facial hair curves back into the skin that is made worse by shaving. Also known as “razor bumps,” PFB is a common problem in up to 60% of Black men, according to the American Osteopathic College of Dermatology.
The policy update comes amid a review of dress and appearance standards that will look into “waivers, and the exceptions” announced by Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. David Allvin earlier this month.
Separately, the latest National Defense Authorization Act requires the Air Force Secretary to brief Congress about a potential pilot program that would allow airmen and guardians to grow beards.
A senior enlisted Air Force leader who spoke to Task & Purpose on the condition of remaining anonymous said that Black airmen have historically had difficulty obtaining medical and religious waivers for shaving, because Air Force leadership believes that beards are prejudicial to good order and discipline.
“If the focus is war with China or Russia, why are they continually talking about dress and appearance?” the senior enlisted leader said.
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