Taller boots and shorter eyelashes mark some of the new and stricter uniform guidance for airmen, the latest push by service leadership to update policies for the rank and file.
The new guidance for Dress and Personal Appearance standards for airmen was released Thursday and sets out regulations for a minimum height for combat boots, outlaws eyelash extensions under most circumstances, requires officers to have at least one set of an operational camouflage pattern — or OCP — uniform, and clarifies folding or cuffing sleeves on OCPs.
“The image of a disciplined and committed airman instills public confidence that airmen live by a common standard and respond to military order and discipline,” the Department of the Air Force instruction reads.
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The new set of rules comes amid a widespread push started earlier this year by Air Force leadership to place more emphasis on uniform and safety standards across the service. It also comes after the Air Force changed its shaving policies and set stricter uniform guidelines earlier this year.
“This update is based on feedback from our NCOs and the standards and readiness reviews across the force,” according to a Facebook page that used to be associated with the chief master sergeant of the Air Force but was recently rebranded as “The Airman’s Dispatch” to provide policy updates.
Under the new rules, all officers from every career field are required to have “at least one complete set of either the non-fire-retardant operational camouflage pattern uniform or an improved hot weather combat OCP uniform,” the news release said.
The release said those wearing the OCP uniform have guidance on rolling sleeves, specifically that “when sleeves are not rolled up, cuffs may remain visible, or members may fold their sleeves once or twice.”
The new guidance also restricts short combat boots. It calls on that footwear to be between 8 and 12 inches in height from the bottom of the heel to the top of the back of the boot. It also says the sole of the shoe can’t be more than two inches in height.
Airmen have 90 days to comply with the OCP and combat boot guidance.
Another update restricts eyelash extensions, reversing a change reportedly made in 2021. The extensions are now allowed only for medical reasons, which might include alopecia or chemotherapy.
“If medical authorization is obtained from a military medical treatment facility provider and documented … eyelash extensions will be [an] airman’s natural eyelash color and will not exceed 12mm in length,” the Air Force instruction reads.
Airmen have 30 days to comply with the new eyelash requirements.
The changes come on the heels of other uniform and dress policies announced earlier this year.
In late January, Military.com reported that “Duty Identifier Tabs” were “no longer authorized for wear,” nail polish must be “clear or French or American manicure,” and hair must “not touch the ears.” The service also called for a “gig line” when in dress uniform — which means neatly lining up the front button edge of the shirt, belt buckle and fly of the pants.
The service also reset and reevaluated all airmen’s medical shaving profiles, including those for reasons such as pseudofolliculitis barbae, a skin condition known as PFB that causes painful razor burn and disproportionately affects Black men.
When Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. David Allvin released his push for new standards earlier this year, he also called for units to come together in formation for routine uniform inspections.
“The first thing is to be able to look at yourself, look at your teammate, hold yourself and him or her accountable to ensure that you’re in standards,” Allvin said in a video. “At the same time, it offers the opportunity for the command leadership to be able to share the very latest and the updated guidance so we are all on the same sheet of music.”
The newly released policies don’t seem, for now, to apply to the Space Force. The service, which is also under the Department of the Air Force, “is projected to release a separate dress and appearance instruction in the coming weeks,” the service said in the news release.
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