“While obsession with one’s personal appearance is a sign of being a vacant brat, total oblivion to it is a sign of mental illness.” – Diving In. While being too involved in one’s appearance is considered being “conceited” or “shallow”, being totally uninvolved with one’s appearance could be considered being “sloppy” or “disheveled”. Not being able to take care of yourself, even when the rules are right in front of you, shows a lot about who someone is. Under the same circumstances, being able to take care of yourself can also show who you are. If you look like shit, people will assume you act like shit. Moral of the story, AR 670-1 is implemented for a specific reason, to make sure every Soldier’s personal appearance is up to the “Army Standard”. Even in public, if you are up to the standard of personal appearance, society will give you one glance and think “Damn, that’s a fine ass soldier.” But at the same time,
they tell us OCONUS personnel to fit in with the society and not make ourselves stand out. How is that even possible when they are making us shave our sideburns all the way to the top of ears? But it is okay, you will look like an American Soldier, the perfect target.
In AR 670-1, there are many guidelines for both Male and Female Soldiers to uphold the Military appearance. It literally goes from head, as in your regular hair, facial hair, and make-up, to your feet. The mission of this regulation is to make sure every soldier doesn’t look like a complete fuck up. AR 670-1 states, “The hair on top of the head must be neatly groomed. The length and bulk of the hair may not be excessive or present a ragged, unkempt, or extreme appearance. The hair must present a tapered appearance. A tapered appearance is one where the outline of the soldier's hair conforms to the shape of the head, curving inward to the natural termination point at the base of the neck.” Pretty much all this is saying is that a male needs to make sure that they don’t “block” his...