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Meh, I had long hair as a teen. Down to the crack of my butt. Went along with the wearing of too much black and listening to music with "disturbing lyrics and/or imagery" (was a metalhead, not a hippy.)
Then I joined the army. See the world, they said ...
That was 6 years of VERY short hair. Had a medical issue (blew out AC ligament in left knee on exercise. Rotated to Stores to serve out my time, then discharged.)

Haven't had hair longer than my collar in over 20 years.

They are simply maintaining the groomin' standard, there's a lot of things that can go wrong out there in the 41st millennium, but the one thing Marines can count on is the Emperor's groomin' standard.

In the grim dark future of the 41st millenium...

...there is no shampoo.

Which means none of those bloody celebrity "Because I'm worth it" L'Oreal adverts, so the future can't be that grim and dark.

I had thought that all SMs were bald by nature, but apparently there are some with hair.

The bald in the military thing is a cultural thing. The purpose is to get the men conform to the group culture.

The US military is keener on enforced baldness than European forces. US society is more individualistic than European, so perhaps it is harder to get the men to conform to the group, and the enforced shaving helps. Just a theory.

The emperor demanded shaved heads and so it came to be!

FITZZ wrote: Because in the Grim Darkness of the Future...there is no hair club for men.

You stole my line!


I usually model my sergeants as the bald guys because it makes them look older. For instance if you have bald scouts (new initiates) with a youthful sergeant who's a veteran... something looks wrong.

~Logic

Logic wrote:

I usually model my sergeants as the bald guys because it makes them look older. For instance if you have bald scouts (new initiates) with a youthful sergeant who's a veteran... something looks wrong.

That's a very good point, i never thought of it like that

gotta maintain the grooming standard or company morale goes to gak

Nevermind the fact that SM armor is a sealed system, and long hair can easily prevent you from getting an airtight seal between neck and helmet.

ShumaGorath wrote:
My sergeants aren't bald. They wear helmets.

When you don't wear your helmet you get shot in the head.

Me too heads tend to be mighty squshi in combat

As for having long hair being big and intimidating helps not to get mocked by near by standing peapole. Trust me.

I think it just kind of fits in with the imagery of shouting angry men, nothing like a skin head to bring up conotations of violence.

As for the long hair in the army thing, having had some experience of the British army (from a MOD view not actually serving) hair still has to be cut smart and short, or if it is longer it has to be able to 'hidden' inside a beret, hence some troops obessions with undercuts.

It might not be the same in america here, but there is some macho bull gak that troops have to deal with in the civilian world, such as people trying to prove they can beat up a squady etc, so i think having hair cuts that allow them to meld better with the general public is only a good thing, allows them to avoid any kind of antipathy that might be about towards them. And in this day and age stops them becoming a target in civlian street to.

Also i beleive its the norm in American special forces as it is in regiments like the SAS to allow troops to move away from regulation on grooming, grow facial hair and even long hair so again they can not be picked out as a soldier straight away.

So i would like to see you turn round and tell someone from the regiment or even delta that they where being 'unprofessional'

It's going with the stereotype of bald screaming drill sergeants in the modern-day military. Like the guy in Full Metal Jacket.

Talking about hairy troops, it was against regs for British soldiers not to wear a moustache until after the first world war.

British sailors are still allowed facial fungus -- it must be a full moustache and beard though.

I would like to see the return of the late 17th century fashion for a full wig. I think that would be cool, combined with buckle shoes, knee breeches and a frock coat.

I read that when Gerry Anderson made UFO, he had a lot of the male actors in wigs and make-up (eye-liner, etc) because he assumed that by now, that kind of thing would be in fashion for men. He wasn't completely wrong, actually, when you look at the New Romantics, goths and the current trend for men to use conditioners and so on.

Cheese Elemental wrote:It's going with the stereotype of bald screaming drill sergeants in the modern-day military. Like the guy in Full Metal Jacket.

R lee emery had hair in that film

As a guy with long hair, there are a few advantages that have kept me from getting it cut.
1. Insulates from the cold in winter, like a biological scarf keeping me nice and toasty. Especially good when sitting on a cold seat as it prevents my upper torso from contact with cold metal.
2. Insulates from the heat in summer, giving a buffer between the hot sun and my pasty flesh, and prevents sunburn on my neck. Only insulates for so long and then it becomes an issue, but it holds water well which aids cooling greatly.
3. Most importantly, as a computer chap, I have an instant, visual awareness of static electricity which has probably saved more than one piece of kit over the years.

They don't have hair for the same reason they don't wear shorts....

Here's something to think about...Calgar is an old old superman by now, but he still has his hair! The Chapter master models were based on the Ultramarines (kinda) but they're all bald!! whats that about?

And how come most orks are bald...and then a few orks have five feet of hair growing straight out of the top of their heads?

its unnatural (as most crazy green xenos are)

On the topic of Ork hair....

Cheese Elemental wrote:It's going with the stereotype of bald screaming drill sergeants in the modern-day military. Like the guy in Full Metal Jacket.

Lol R Lee Ermey is just brutal, he's probably the angriest man in the world after seeing that and the new Texas Chainsaw Massacre movies.

Drill Sergeants are stereotyped after him.

Lol that Ork reminds me of a Space Wolf

Orks are a different case.

They have hair-squigs. Kinda like a toupee that bites onto thetop of your head to stay on.

If I were a space marine (& god willing, one day I *will* be a space marine) I think it would look cooler if I kept my hair.

on the other hand, I have no idea how Id fit it inside the helmet. (Ive actually put an unhealthy amount of thought into this).

I think possibly tying it back really tight & jamming it down the back of the neck of the body suit that goes under the power armour. works well enough for hooded tops....

Im not sure if it would get in the way though... I dunno. Anyway, Im going to assume there IS a way to keep it, because Ive seen SMs with long hair. & not just space wolves, Im sure there were others.

Trench-Raider wrote:I've never had my hair more than about an inch long at any time in my life. It's something that while in high school got me a small amount of grief as I grew up in the '80s when long hair on males was regrettably the fashion.

TR

Haw haw haw! I know you hated being around me circa 1990, Trench! I was quite the hippy freak then, as you remember.

In retrospect, I'm glad to have rid my self of all that hair - it tended to attract creepy women.

I have to admit, I like the "Arnie" flattops on marines. Reminds me of my old RT roots.

EDITED FOR POTENTIAL TROLLING.

JohnHwangDD wrote:Hippie.

Every man should have a period in his life when he is totally bald ... BY CHOICE!

Been there, done that.

Now I have a veritable mane of thick, long, luxurious hair. Which I dyed back to it's normal black as I am too young to be going grey!

As a Warmachine player, I originally read the title of this thread as

"Why does every Sgt. have to be bait?"

Doesn't mephiston have loads of hair?? he's covered in it. the big gorrilla!

so is it just the recent plastics that are bald?

can anyone remember a good old fashioned metal spacemarine character model thats bald? lysander? is that it?

Ok, first the on topic stuff....well as much on topic as a humorous thread like this can be anyway..

Gitkikka:

Haw haw haw! I know you hated being around me circa 1990, Trench! I was quite the hippy freak then, as you remember.

Hehe...you know it buddy. I was ashamed to be seen out with you in public! But not half as much as I am now!

In retrospect, I'm glad to have rid my self of all that hair - it tended to attract creepy women.

That it did. What was that batty chicks name again?

Chromedog:

Orks are a different case.

They have hair-squigs. Kinda like a toupee that bites onto thetop of your head to stay on.

You beat me to it.
I recall in that wonderful old "Waaargh the Orks" books it states that Orks actually feel sorry for humans as they can only obtain hair squigs in a few shades of brown and yellow!

Mad Doc:

Now I have a veritable mane of thick, long, luxurious hair.

Why does that not suprise me?

TR

Come to think of it, the Pretty Marines all have the most marvellously coiffed hair, including the sergeants and officers.

Long hair is a "pansy" trait!? Tell that to Rafael Nadal in tennis and just about every Argentinian (sp?) soccer player in the world cup... and others who might not be as tough, but are incredibly good at what they do... Valderrama!!

Troy Polamalu of the Pittsburgh Steelers... and even when he was dragged down by his hair after an interception, he gave the guy kudos for doing it!

And the 80s were cool!!!

And the 80s were cool!!!

Yes there were. I didn't say they were not. I still listen to '80s music on a regular basis. But the whole hair fad was annoying to someone who grew up in straight-laced family who regarded long hair as a symbol of the cultural decay of the '60s.

Anyway, one quick off topic reply. I can't resist this one for obvious reasons:

Self defense is not self-inflicted. I don't mean to sound like a dick, but spare me the CO psychology. Trust me, I've heard some variant of that a thousand different times, due to something that honestly wasn't my fault. I'm sure you hear that one a lot too.

So you say.
It's more than just my CO mindset (which I freely admit is at least partially in play. I have an understandable hatred for criminals) at play here. There is also the whole statistical probabbility thing going on as well. The US Justice Department estimates that fewer than one half of one percent of all US prison inmates are wrongly convicted. Moreover, looking at those who have been vidicated and released shows us that the majority of those are people with previous criminal histories (many career criminals) who just happen not to be guilty of THAT crime. They got caught up wrongly when the police looked to the local known nere do wells when a crime occured in an area rather than conduct a proper investigation. That doesn't make it right of course. But it does put it in perspective. The whole idea of the totally innocent wrongly convicted man (ala the Shawshank Redemption) that is so beloved of Hollyweird is so uncommon as to be almost mythical.

In any event, when you claim that you were not guilty and acting in "self defence" I suspect rather strongly that you are leaving a very important part of the story out. I see this alot when people claim to have been misr=treated by the cops for example. They will neglect to mention that they became rude and confrontational when they got stopped for speeding for example. Your claim rather reminds me of the story told by my ex-wife's eldest son. He was a real piece of work I can tell you. Anyway, he got convicted of aggravated assault and a hate crime (the guy he beat up was an illegal third worlder and he White) when he got drugged up and beat a guy within an inch of his life after a dispute over a girl. Of course he claimed he was acting in self defence, despite the fact he damned near killed the guy and according to the police report kept beating on the guy after he was down. His excuse for the fact they found drugs in his system? He said the oher guy opened the fight by throwing a bag of cocain in his face. Riiiiiggght....

Anyway, my point is that in the real world in the vast, vast majority of all cases prison is a self inflicted condition. I don't care what race you are or what your economic background is. Criminal activity is always a choice.

Ok, rant off..

TR