Dirty rotten yanks make nice Brit pilot shave his lovely Mo

[peterpan]

How an RAF pilot's moustache made the U.S. military bristle


By Andrew Levy
Last updated at 12:48 AM on 13th June 2008

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RAF Flight Lieutenant Chris Ball shows off his handlebar moustache

It's a little bit ticklish and it takes a fair bit of trimming. But Flight Lieutenant Chris Ball never dreamed his handlebar moustache would get him trouble with the U.S. military.
When the RAF pilot was sent on an exchange posting, an American General told him it had to go.
Under U.S. Air Force rules, moustaches should not extend downwards beyond the upper lip or sideways beyond the corner of the mouth.
Flt Lt Ball's handlebar measures an impressive six inches from tip to tip - making it almost as long as the teastrainer sported by Lord Kitchener.
'The Yanks are not allowed to grow a full-length tash,' Flt Lt Ball said yesterday. 'After I was told to trim mine down I had to dig out the Queen's Regulations to prove I was not breaching our own code.'
The Regulations state that a moustache should not extend below the edge of the mouth. However, there are no rules on how wide it can be.
So after an 'exchange of views' with the General, the pilot managed to escape a session-with a razor. The face-off took place after Flt Lt Ball, who normally flies Tornado GR4s from RAF Lossiemouth in Scotland, joined the U.S. 336th Fighter Squadron in February.
He is currently based in Afghanistan, where he is flying an F-15 fighter targeting Taliban strongholds in the mountainous region near Kabul.
'The rugged terrain is difficult with mountain peaks reaching 22,500ft above sea level,' he said.
'It's tough for the guys on the ground - during the day the temperatures can reach the high 40s, but at night they plummet to minus 20.
'The U.S.A.F. has two planes in the air over the region 24/7. If anything happens on the ground, we are there fast.
'The F-15 is awesome. I love the GR4 but this beast is about 50 per cent bigger and armed to the teeth. It is a truly phenomenal plane.'

Close shave: Flight Lieutenant Chris Ball (left), seen here pre-moustache, with navigator Mark Crawford while training in the U.S.

Handlebar moustaches such as the one worn by Flt Lt Ball are something of a tradition in the Air Force, with the luxuriant facial hair of Gulf War hero Pablo Mason becoming his trademark.
The Ministry of Defence yesterday said juggling the UK's military regulations with those of foreign forces during exchanges could be 'tricky'.
A spokesman added: 'In this case, simple things like the time to turn up to work and go home would come under the U.S.A.F. But attire, facial hair and discipline would follow RAF rules.'
The Handlebar Club, based in London, said there had been similar cases of anti-moustache discrimination.

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The club's vice-president Rod Littlewood added: 'It's absolutely wonderful to hear about someone getting one over on the jobsworths.
'Moustaches are not very popular in the West today and only a very small percentage of people with them have handlebars.
'But round the world it is completely different. Indian police get paid more if they have one because they look more manly.'

I think its disgraceful, handle bars have been a piloting tradition for decades, soon they will be banning The old Brit war cry of tally ho chaps.

[sabang]

Well thats a bit strange. At the Oz naval college we had an officer on exchange from the US, a Leutenant. In the Oz & UK navy you are not allowed to sport a moustache, in the US navy, no ploblem. So he was allowed to keep his mo, although we all thought he looked like a poove.

[Texpat]

an American General told him it had to go

Lt Ball should have told the general to stuff it.

Unless ... it was a safety issue -- oxygen mask sealing issues.

[blackgang]

In the US military it seems that if you have it in the picture on your ID card then it is OK, I was told by a Capt. of a ship I was on to shave mine and I told him to fuk off, I had a friend in the base photo shop and he made me an ID card with my mustache in the pic so I was not forced to shave it off,, but mainly that wimp thought I was fucking his wife, he had caught me with my hands in places they should not have been, but he could prove nothing..
I have worn this mustache for over 50 years and I ain't gonna shave it for no one..

[Morden]

Strange, I thought the BBC world news said that he'd been allowed to keep it.

I think that all British Forces personnel should be required to grow handlebars long enough to be seen clearly from behind - so that their allies can easily recognise them and, perhaps, not shoot them in the back quite so often.

[Texpat]

not shoot them in the back quite so often

Are you suggesting it is accidental?

[Morden]

Point taken! Envy leads people to do all sorts of things.

[BugginOut]

I don't know about you guys, but it's absolutely necessary for me to sport a handlebar moustache whilst dropping daisy-cutters and MOABs on the rural folk of the Middle East.

[Morden]

I don't know about you guys, but it's absolutely necessary for me to sport a handlebar moustache whilst dropping daisy-cutters and MOABs on the rural folk of the Middle East.

Quite right! They do it in Middle East Anglia too. Keeps the plane stable, does a wide 'stache. Same as USAF pilots crop their hair short so that they go faster.

[pickel]

If his mustache had to go, how would people still know he was gay?

[kingwilly]

[kingwilly]

[Bugs]

So after an 'exchange of views' with the General, the pilot managed to escape a session-with a razor. The face-off took place after Flt Lt Ball, who normally flies Tornado GR4s from RAF Lossiemouth in Scotland, joined the U.S. 336th Fighter Squadron in February.

I don't think the lad had to shave it. The BBC (June 12), Telegraph (June 13), and The Herald (June 16) all reported he got to keep his stache.

I think the wording in the above artical (from the Mail - June 13) is just a bad choice of wording. "The face-off took place" - I belive refers to the confrontation between the pilot and the general not the actual removal of the stache.

BBC - June 12
BBC NEWS | Scotland | North East/N Isles | RAF pilot wins moustache battle

Telegraph - June 13
RAF pilot refuses US order to trim moustache - Telegraph

The Herald - June 16
RAF Pilot Can Keep His Handlebar Moustache (from The Herald )

Mail - June 13 - OP
RAF fighter pilot in Afghanistan ordered to trim his handlebar moustache - because Americans say it's too long | Mail Online