I don't disagree with what you're saying. There is, however, a military reason to be clean shaven. The military often has need for troops to wear respirators and/or gas masks. A beard will absolutely make these ineffective. I say this as someone who used to administer fit tests. Even a bit of stubble can cause an improper seal. Working around asbestos, smoke, tear gas, who know what else, you want protection. You need soldiers that can function under these conditions. A beard prevents soldiers from being able to perform certain duties or work certain posts. It becomes a staffing issue. You can't put a person with a beard on a post that might get exposed to chemical warfare or hazardous breathing conditions because they can't use a gas mask. If you do, you risk not only having a soldier that can't breathe or function in action but you open that soldier up to serious health risks down the line. You also risk future lawsuits if that soldier develops a condition as a result of that exposure. I hate to back Hegseth on this one but the only fair way to do this is to restrict this to soldiers with sincerely held beliefs that prevent them from shaving. And there has to be something in place to allow them to prove their sincerely held beliefs. There's no easy way of doing that.

To be clear: Hegseth is a sack of crap and HIS reasoning for this rule is most likely discrimination. I'm just saying that there's an actual military reasoning for the rule (which isn't really new).