Why are us marine corps given the High and tight haircut before deployment ?

Question

Why are us marine corps given the High and tight haircut before deployment ?

Answer 1

This dates back WWI and trench warfare. Keeps the head lice down.

Answer 2

easy to keep clean

water is scarce when  doing the hard jobs that go wit it

nowhere for lice to hide

etc etc

Answer 3

everyone looks the same,no lice,easier to keep clean(hygiene)..take your pick

Answer 4

Oi AT focus!!!!!!!!!!!

Hygene, uniformity.

Its not just the marines. All services have short hair. (Except the Dutch National Service guys).

I'm a Royal Navy submariner, and we all get short haircuts, so by the time we get back it is time for another one, and we don't end up looking like something out of a bad 70's p**n film.

Answer 5

because its easier for the nice sergeant man to see if they have washed behind their ears!!  

Answer 6

Tradition and hygiene.

Answer 7

There are alot of valid reasons.

1) Uniformity

2)Hygenic reasons

3) Easy gas mask removal/putting on

4) Back in trench warfare, and close quarters, lack of hair gave the enemy one less advantage.

5) Tradition

6) Best haircut to have, its breezy

7) Professional appearance

People also say that its silly that Marines have to shave everyday, regardless of facial hair growth rate. The "public" reason is becuase it looks professional. The actual reason is because if you have to don a gas mask, it forms a MUCH better seal if the points of contact are smooth.

Answer 8

1 Uniformity

2 cleanliness

3 in the event of head injury, treatment is easier.

4 to prevent a member being different from all others,i.e.it makes an individual, harder to target, in the field, if all officers and men, who do not wear insignia, or battle rankings, are on active duty, then the officers can not be picked out with ease.

5 it is not for the safety of respirator use, as the navy permit the growing of beards amongst all ranks, and the respirators (from the S6 onwards) can be worn with long hair, or beards quite safely, and all respirators  have been tested, and found to be quite adequate, for use with beards, most are actually more effective if the man is bearded, but have the downside that they are much hotter to wear with one !

6 To make the individual less of an individual, i.e. to strip away the "personal" and replace it with the "group", as a figure of self respect, and functioning...to make the "gang" seem the supreme arbiter of behaviour, and response to stress and threat...

7 the hair has been used as a "weapon" against an individual, by virtue of the grip it affords opponents, in close quarter combat, from ancient Greek wars onwards, and is a risk factor in any military workshop, for injuries caused by being trapped in machinery...

Much like the hoodie disappeared for so long, after Robin Hoods days, and only reappears in our own,because people have forgotten, or do not realise how easy it is, to grab a "hoodie" and pull it over someones eyes, blinding them, and leaving them defenceless, and affording leverage, to swing them back and forward, ( just like it dissapeared after Mr Hoods boys were around, and for the same reasons ), but the public will learn, the first time a phone camera is used to film an attack on someone who fights back, and gives said hoodie a bl##dy good hiding for their stupidity !!!

And if you try to imagine you are grabbing on to one, and think a moment about the hoodie, and think about your weight pulling one down, or forwards, do you think that the neck muscles of anyone you know, could stop your weight from forcing the head down ? and when it does, the hoodie is trying to prevent the force downwards from unbalancing them, pull to one side, and they will go over like a stack of books.

A safe way to prove this, is to ask someone to stand in front of you, and ask them to resist you pushing them over, they will expect the push from the front and will therefore brace thenselves against a forward push, put your hand on their chest, and you will feel them resist, in that direction, then suddenly, put your other hand to one of their sides and push, toward the other side, you will get no resistance, and they will be forced off their feet, the same applies to pulling a hoodie by the hood, if at first you pull the hoodie down over their eyes, they will resist, if you then swing them to one side they will fall over..keep the hood over the eyes and keep changing direction on them and you can batter them in to submission, .while they can not see....

All good clean fun, and most of all you can walk into court to testify against them, instead of being carried in, or being exhibit one, in the court photos....

And most of all , you will not hear a labour politician utter those immortal words, over your bruised, and bleeding  body, that,    "the person who did this, needs help"

Answer 9

It's because we marines take pride in what we do, and we want to be reconized as the ones doing the work, so if we all look the same, its easy to identify us, and then when people tell the media something, they will say " I saw a U.S. Marine do this, or do that", you understand?

Answer 10

That's so when they go running through some jungle some enemy won't be able to snatch them by their ponytail......  

Answer 11

I was told when I was in the marines that the purpose behind this haircut, other than the typical "tradition," "uniformity," etc. is that it allows your gas mask to seal properly on your head and around your ears.

Answer 12

To show everyone's equality, if there is a head injury they won't have to shave it, gets rid of lice, and it looks cool.