Hair in Retreat

Most of the nation has tired of flogging the question of long hair, but not the U.S. Army. In the face of ever-dwindling numbers of volunteers, the Department of the Army asked the N.W. Ayer & Sons advertising agency to launch a recruiting campaign. One theme: WE CARE MORE ABOUT HOW YOU THINK THAN HOW YOU CUT YOUR HAIR.

But the hair quickly got out of hand. Department of the Army message 062046Z October 1971 states the complaint: the Army "considered that the modification of the allowable hair styles would be a credible indication that the Army was changing and placing emphasis on more important aspects of service. It was not anticipated that the change in haircut policy would become an issue in some units and between various groups within the Army." What is more, although the youth pictured in the Ayer ad looks well trimmed by contemporary standards, the circular emphasizes that he "does not repeat does not illustrate a soldier meeting the standards set by AR 600-20." The offending ad will soon be dropped "because of the possible misinterpretation that the Army is more permissive--which it is not--and that the Army condones long, unkempt hair--which it does not."

This file is automatically generated by a robot program, so reader's discretion is required.