By CAITLYN BURCHETT   STARS AND STRIPES • March 12, 2025

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth on Wednesday ordered a “rapid” services-wide review of existing standards for physical fitness, body composition and grooming, according to a Pentagon news release.

In a memo, Hegseth directed the undersecretary of defense for personnel and readiness to gather the existing standards. Darin Selnick is performing those duties.

While described as “rapid,” the memo does not provide a timeline for the review.

“We must remain vigilant in maintaining the standards that enable the men and women of our military to protect the American people and our homeland as the world’s most lethal and effective fighting force,” Hegseth wrote in the release.

“This review will illuminate how the Department has maintained the level of standards required over the recent past and the trajectory of any change in those standards,” he said.

The review of grooming standards will also include the wearing of beards, according to the memo.

The Army, Air Force and Navy all offer shaving waivers to service members diagnosed with pseudofolliculitis barbae that allow them to forgo shaving. The condition, which manifests in painful razor bumps, disproportionately affects Black men.