REALITY TV
TV
MOVIES
MUSIC
CELEBRITY
About Us Contact Us Privacy Policy Terms of Use Accuracy & Fairness Corrections & Clarifications Ethics Code Your Ad Choices
© MEAWW All rights reserved
MEAWW.COM / NEWS / HEALTH

Video shows Marines lining up for haircut breaking social distancing norms, officials say discipline comes first

The video showed the Marines standing with merely a foot or two between them at the barbershop
PUBLISHED APR 15, 2020
(Getty Images)
(Getty Images)

The coronavirus pandemic has forced many barbershops to shut their doors across the country. However, one shop definitely remains open. It's the one on Camp Pendleton, one of the largest training bases of the US Marine Corps.

Jared Keller, deputy editor at the Task and Purpose shared a video capturing marines — separated by a foot or two — lining up for a haircut, throwing the logic behind social distancing out of the window. The video, which was released on April 13, has since raised eyebrows raising questions on social distancing among the military.

According to the Pentagon, the number of positive cases in the Marine Corps had jumped to 173 as of April 10, from 73 a week ago.  The pandemic has hit the military hard. Among sailors aboard the USS Theodore Roosevelt, 585 have caught the disease. One sailor has died, the military said on April 13.

However, most Marine bases have shut barbershops while also relaxing the standards on hair length, according to reports

Defense Secretary Mark Esper said he had asked the force to follow guidance from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). He admitted that it was tough to enforce such rules on 2.2 million of them, spread out all over the world. “Our challenge is to get out there and educate the chain of command," Esper said during a Pentagon news conference.

On April 14, during a press briefing at Pentagon, a reporter questioned Army Gen. Mark Milley, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs, on the need for military discipline now.

Discipline is a fundamental function of the military, and short hair is part of that (Getty Images)

In response, Milley said: "I think Marines should get haircuts." He went on to share his experience, highlighting that discipline helped them win wars. "As the son of a Navy corpsman who hit the beach at Iwo Jima with the 4th Marine Division, it took extraordinary discipline to conquer that island. That Marine victory was the result of the incredible discipline of America's 9-1-1 force and expeditionary force," he explained.

Other military branches, he said, must maintain their existing hair standards even during the pandemic. "There's a lot of ways to do haircuts," he added.

In late March, Gen. David Berger, the commandant of the Marine Corps, said that recruits were continuing to get their heads shaved as long as the barbers show up to work.

Defending the link between discipline and hair length, Milley said discipline is a fundamental function of the military, and short hair is part of that. "It may seem superficial to some, but getting a haircut is part of that discipline", said Milley. “So, yes, I support the Marine Corps.”

He, however, pointed out the marines should maintain a six feet distance from each other. Even Esper spoke on that.

"The commandant [at Camp Pendleton], if he's watching, is probably already on it," Mark Esper, said. "If not, [Chairman Milley] is going to give him a call and say, 'What is going on? What don't you guys understand?'," he added.

Responding to how Milley himself is maintaining his hair length, the chairman had said:  “Do you want to know? It is a mirror with a thing. One of those barber kit things.”

POPULAR ON MEAWW
MORE ON MEAWW