CNO & CNP Facebook Live All-Hands Call [1]RECORDED EARLIER: Chief of Naval Operations Adm. John Richardson and Chief of Naval Personnel Adm. Robert Burke will host another Facebook Live All-Hands Call and are looking forward to taking your questions about uniforms, PCS moves and any other personnel matter that's on your mind. Let them know how they can continue to make you a more efficient and a more lethal warfighter. Please Join them Tuesday, July 10th at 1700 EDT and you can start posting your questions in the comments below. They will address as many as they can in 30 minutes.
Posted by U.S. Navy [2] on Tuesday, July 10, 2018
Contrary to its past policy, the US Navy has announced that black women in service can now wear their natural hair [3], AP News reported. More specifically, it was revealed during a public all-hands broadcast on Facebook [4] that servicewomen are now able to wear locs, various twists, and ponytails, as well as wider buns, to work.
This comes after years of requests from women prompting the Navy to adjust its strict guidelines, which restricted the available options women of colour could wear, to be more inclusive. Capt. Thurraya Kent, a senior member of the working group that recommended the changes, has been challenging these rules throughout her 26-year career. She recalled being told to remove certain hairstyles, such as braids, describing it to the AP News as a "very embarrassing moment."
Legalman First Class Tamatha Schulmerich said that putting the new rules in place "is a step forward," and that the military is updating guidelines that "maybe no longer serve their purpose in today's society, today's military." Lt. Cmdr. Jess Cameron also commented on the topic saying, "Allowing new hairdos may seem like a small thing, [but] it sends a larger message."