08-09-2010, 03:47
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#1
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Guerrilla
Join Date: Nov 2006
Location: Ireland
Posts: 150
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"U.S. Special Forces ordered to shave off beards."
KABUL, Afghanistan - U.S. Special Operations Forces have had countless close shaves this month - not just with the enemy, but with razors and foamy cream.
After almost a decade of growing long beards as a show of deep respect for Afghanistan's male-dominated, bearded tribal culture, many of these elite warriors have been ordered by top brass to shave their faces clean.
Some veteran special ops troops fear they face a harder time getting taken seriously by local leaders they depend upon for intel about their bearded enemy, the Taliban.
"Now we look no different than the Brits or Russians before us," a dewhiskered Green Beret team leader with five Afghanistan tours told the Daily News, referring to two countries whose past wars here ended badly. "Growing a beard dramatically helps us."
Even former Afghan war commander Gen. Stanley McChrystal "should have grown a beard" to help win over the tribes, argued the Green Beret, who cannot be identified because of his mission.
Long beards, khaki ball caps and Oakley wraparound sunglasses have long been the iconic image of U.S. secret warriors here.
But commanders now want "professional-looking" soldiers in the field - at least those who deal mostly with Afghan troops, not civilians. They note that the ball caps are often adorned with macabre skulls, sending the wrong message to a populace weary of war and death.
Special ops troops living in or near villages can keep their beards, but are encouraged to adopt the traditional Afghan pokol cap instead of a billed cap.
Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/news/worl...#ixzz0w6Ia95qs
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Irish_Army01 is offline
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08-09-2010, 06:59
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#2
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Auxiliary
Join Date: Apr 2010
Location: CONUS
Posts: 79
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Next Stop: Reflective Belts outside the wire
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J8127 is offline
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08-09-2010, 07:09
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#3
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Quiet Professional
Join Date: Apr 2008
Location: 18 yrs upstate NY, 30 yrs South Florida, 20 yrs Conch Republic, now chasing G-Kids in NOVA & UK
Posts: 11,901
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JJ_BPK is offline
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08-09-2010, 07:10
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#4
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Quiet Professional
Join Date: Aug 2004
Location: NorCal
Posts: 15,370
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MOO - but seems as if some of the complaints listed are valid - and there are exceptions for operational necessity.
The DET CDR who thought GEN McChrystal should've worn a beard needs to be retested - sounds as if he might've fudged on his IQ testing. 
Richard's $.02 
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Richard is offline
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08-09-2010, 08:00
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#5
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Quiet Professional
Join Date: Mar 2009
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Posts: 3,924
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Quote:
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Special ops troops living in or near villages can keep their beards, but are encouraged to adopt the traditional Afghan pokol cap instead of a billed cap.
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That makes sense to me.
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I am the most offending soul alive."
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Lazy Bob Ranch
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Utah Bob is offline
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08-09-2010, 09:11
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#6
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BANNED USER
Join Date: Jan 2007
Posts: 3,751
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Utah Bob
That makes sense to me.
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"Special ops troops living in or near villages can keep their beards, but are encouraged to adopt the traditional Afghan pokol cap instead of a billed cap."
I'm with Bob. And they should speak Pashto and squat when they pee and abide by local dietary customs. Not pick and choose . . .
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Dozer523 is offline
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08-09-2010, 13:51
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#7
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Quiet Professional
Join Date: Feb 2007
Location: Near the flag pole
Posts: 1,168
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Dozer523
"Special ops troops living in or near villages can keep their beards, but are encouraged to adopt the traditional Afghan pokol cap instead of a billed cap."
I'm with Bob. And they should speak Pashto and squat when they pee and abide by local dietary customs. Not pick and choose . . .
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What makes you think we aren't?
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blue02hd is offline
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08-09-2010, 15:05
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#8
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Like My Mankini?
Join Date: Oct 2007
Location: OH for now
Posts: 437
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It's about time somebody came along and straightened things up. You guys were running around theater all willy nilly  . I thought the modified grooming standards were all about giving the individual soldiers more time to focus on the more improtant aspects of fighting a war. Somebody please correct me if that was a bad assumption.
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blacksmoke is offline
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08-09-2010, 15:28
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#9
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Quiet Professional
Join Date: Feb 2007
Location: TN
Posts: 933
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This isn't the first time SF has had to shave in the GWOT. It was fortunately a short time and then the command backed off of it.
We went to some village elders who we had worked with for months - they wouldn't even look at. One even said I know your eyes and your voice but I do not know you... Does great things for the SF mission.. 
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koz is offline
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08-09-2010, 16:42
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#10
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Quiet Professional
Join Date: Jan 2004
Location: Free Pineland
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Quote:
Originally Posted by blacksmoke
It's about time somebody came along and straightened things up. You guys were running around theater all willy nilly . I thought the modified grooming standards were all about giving the individual soldiers more time to focus on the more improtant aspects of fighting a war. Somebody please correct me if that was a bad assumption. |
You stand corrected.
TR
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The Reaper is offline
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08-09-2010, 17:02
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#11
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Moderator
Join Date: Feb 2004
Location: Central Florida
Posts: 3,045
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Quote:
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They note that the ball caps are often adorned with macabre skulls,
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I'm glad they like my designs. 
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Kyobanim is offline
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08-09-2010, 17:02
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#12
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Quiet Professional
Join Date: Feb 2010
Location: Eastern Panhandle, WV
Posts: 719
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Quote:
Originally Posted by blacksmoke
It's about time somebody came along and straightened things up. You guys were running around theater all willy nilly . I thought the modified grooming standards were all about giving the individual soldiers more time to focus on the more improtant aspects of fighting a war. Somebody please correct me if that was a bad assumption. |
Do you think that a guy can't brush his teeth and not think about actions on the objective at the same time? It's for exactly what they said above - respect. The ball caps could go. Unless the folks in the villages start getting basefall fever. 
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Green Light is offline
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08-09-2010, 17:03
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#13
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Guerrilla
Join Date: Dec 2007
Posts: 200
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Quote:
Originally Posted by blacksmoke
It's about time somebody came along and straightened things up. You guys were running around theater all willy nilly . I thought the modified grooming standards were all about giving the individual soldiers more time to focus on the more improtant aspects of fighting a war. Somebody please correct me if that was a bad assumption. |
WHOA ..... 
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18DWife is offline
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08-09-2010, 17:42
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#14
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Like My Mankini?
Join Date: Oct 2007
Location: OH for now
Posts: 437
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Quote:
Originally Posted by 18DWife
WHOA ..... |
This wasn't a dig on SF. In Iraq they also wore ballcaps and some had beards. In the regular army, we spend a lot of time making things dress right dress and squaring away uniforms and vehicles, because we don't speak the language and don't have as many skills to put to work, and must stay busy somehow. I thought the reason that SF was allowed a lot more leeway in their appearance was because they had better things going on. My mistake.
Last edited by blacksmoke; 08-09-2010 at 18:12.
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blacksmoke is offline
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08-09-2010, 17:53
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#15
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Guerrilla
Join Date: Dec 2007
Posts: 200
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Quote:
Originally Posted by blacksmoke
This wasn't a dig on SF. In Iraq they also wore ballcaps and some had beards. In the regular army, we spend a lot of time making things dress right dress and squaring away uiniforms and vehicles, becuase we don't speak the language and don't have as many skills to put to work, and must stay bust somehow. I thought the reason that SF was allowed a lot more leway in their appearance was because the had better things going on. My mistake.
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From what I hear they spend plenty of time squaring away things also ...
And YEP YOUR MISTAKE
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18DWife is offline
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