Recent changes to the U.S. Army’s AR 670-1 have sparked a lot of discussions, especially in the natural hair community. According to The Stream, the U.S. Army has made changes regarding grooming and appearance in the AR 670-1 that took effect on March 31, 2013. These changes involve banning hairstyles such as dreadlocks and twists. In addition, the U.S. Army set limitations for braids and specifies sizing and spacing measurements that are considered acceptable.
The Stream also states that the U.S. Army’s PowerPoint presentation about these new changes was leaked on March 20th. The presentation included images of unauthorized female hairstyles. The full AR 670-1 lists the changes and descriptions for each hairstyle.
“It’s very targeted because we all know who they’re talking about even though they never explicitly say the world ‘black’ or ‘African-American.’ We all know who typically wears these types of hairstyles and then they went as far as to include pictures of black women in the PowerPoint,” U.S. Army Veteran, “Tonya”, told The Stream.
However, she isn’t the only one who expressed how she felt about the new changes. Some U.S. Army women have found that natural hairstyles are easier to maintain while performing their duties. Now, their hairstyle choices are limited. They can choose from options such as hair extensions and wigs.
