Secretary of War Pete Hegseth has emphasized the enforcement of grooming and appearance standards while simultaneously overriding services and lifting suspensions of pilots who may have failed to follow protocol.

Hegseth was recently left frustrated about the implementation of his appearance-based policy changes after seeing service members who did not meet the new standards during a recent visit to troops in the Middle East, according to CNN. Shortly after that visit, Pentagon officials told subordinates that the secretary was monitoring the implementation of his changes and wanted to see the directives move faster.