It's been a couple of weeks since that Pentagon press briefing -- the one where Gen. Mark Milley very clearly stated his stance on maintaining grooming standards -- and the Marine Corps has made no changes to its haircut regulations.
Now, barbershops in Europe that were closed for six weeks are starting to reopen.
There's no question where Gen. Milley stands on Marine Corps haircuts during coronavirus
Thanks to Milley, barbershops and haircut availability have become a kind of litmus test for how restrictive COVID-19 preventative measures are in different areas. To a certain degree, the same goes for the general population. As Americans everywhere commiserate over overdue grooming needs, one of the first things states are moving to reopen are barbershops.
So did the Marine Corps's decision to maintain grooming standards as other branches relaxed them -- adamantly supported by Milley -- impact service members?
It's hard to tell. The Marine Corps's COVID-19 data is included with the Navy's numbers. And, because of the well-known outbreak on the USS Theodore Roosevelt, the Navy has far and away the most COVID-19 cases among its service members -- double that of the branch with the second most cases.
Following the briefing during which Milley likened grooming standards to the discipline it took for Marines to conquer Iwo Jima, the Marine Corps faced backlash from service members online and lawmakers on Capitol Hill.
"As the son of a Navy corpsman who hit the beach at Iwo Jima with the 4th Marine Division — it took extraordinary discipline to conquer that island with 7,000 Marines killed in 19 or 20 days and put that flag on Suribachi. That Marine victory was the result of incredible discipline," Milley said during the briefing. "It may seem superficial to some but getting a haircut is part of that discipline."
“At a time when social distancing has been imposed across the country and proven to be a successful public health measure, Marines are unnecessarily being put at risk of infection in order to comply with traditional grooming standards that may be optimal in an ideal world but are inessential and can be relaxed in the real world without doing any damage at all to institutional mission or national security,” Rep. Jamie Raskin, D-Md., wrote in the letter to the Marine Corps commandant.
As it's difficult to tell whether the Marine Corps's grooming standards had a negative impact, it's likewise difficult to tell if closing barbershops and relaxing standards across other branches had a positive impact. But U.S. military installation leaders in Europe decided that any significant impact it could have has passed -- and it's time to reopen. With strict prevention measures in place, of course.
Military installations in Europe plan to "lag" behind their host nations as far as reopening timelines go, according to a USAREUR statement, in order to get a better idea of how infection rates will fluctuate as efforts to reopen businesses and services proceed.
Germany, Italy, France and other European countries have cautiously started to lift certain prevention restrictions after extended periods of quarantine, isolation and distancing measures. Infection rates in the United States, however, have yet to see the types of positive development European countries are experiencing.
Overall, the Department of Defense has reported a total of 7,526 COVID-19 cases across the force.
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Reach Elizabeth Howe on Twitter @ECBHowe.
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