Much like many modern SWAT teams who wear better gear than most Special Ops teams but still can’t hit the broadside of a barn, the movement was all about the aesthetics. Much like lone Harley riders who team up to inadvertently annoy everyone in every town they have ever collectively driven through, “Operators” were banding together to show off their. In case you didn’t know, they operate worldwide. Combine that with the rash of high demand (and low standards) for Private Contractors during their golden era and you have a near-endless menagerie of cookie-cutter lumberjacks with rifles from the year 2004 to present.Įventually, things reached critical mass- the ‘beardpocalypse’ loomed on the horizon. Pretty soon, everyone and their mother was sporting a beard and calling themselves “operators”, giving birth to Tactical McDojos across the world faster than Catholic rabbits. The Patron Saint of the Tactical Homeless Guy Look After photos of this got out, everybody wanted a piece of the beard cake. Once clean-shaven Special Forces troops were suddenly growing beards to blend in and earn the trust of the locals. So when did the Battle Beard craze of the 21st Century begin? Well, with Special Operations units in Iraq and Afghanistan to be precise. It was… a transitional time for both the military and eyewear in general. ![]() ![]() This practice ceased in 1984, with the reintroduction of “No Fun” policies. The 1970s were golden times for sailors, who littered the album of service memories with some fantastic- and not so fantastic facial hair. The hilarious calm before the bummer storm.įollowing WWII, beards once again disappeared for a long spell- with one exception: The Navy. That was, until a curious incident in the early 1940s, where in an attempt to raise morale in the Pacific Theatre, Commanders facing the ever-closer advancing threat of the Japanese military (who would eventually kill or capture most, if not all of these men, forcing the survivors into squalid and often deadly conditions as prisoners of war until 1944) held a beard-growing contest. Union and Confederate soldiers squared off in American pastures and cities- brother vs brother, north vs south, beard vs beard.Įventually, chemical weapons came along with the horrors of the First World War and with it the end of beards in most major militaries, especially the United States. ![]() Occasionally sported by those of Special Operations and (now) stringent religious backgrounds, facial hair has become a coveted item that is almost absurdly common in former military and civilian ‘tactical’ circles in an attempt to look “manly” and “tactical”.īeards were a common sight in the 1800s, particularly the Civil War. Of all the taboos that plague the conventional military, none stand out more than that of facial hair.
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