The U.S. Army on Tuesday unveiled a set of significant changes to its hair and grooming standards — including long ponytails and buzz cuts for women — intended to meet the needs of more soldiers.

The sweeping changes to the service’s hair and grooming policy are based on soldier recommendations, Sgt. Maj. Brian Sanders, Army G-1, Uniform Policy Branch sergeant major, told reporters at a roundtable.

A special panel, made up primarily of female soldiers, reviewed recommendations from the field on female soldiers’ needs, especially those of Black women, Sanders said. The panel was made up of soldiers from across the service, including Training and Doctrine Command, Army Forces Command, Army Special Operations Command and the Army National Guard.

Read Next: Agent Orange Exposure Doubles Risk of Developing Dementia, Study Finds

“Since I got to the job in December 2019, there has been a big cry for help from the Army on how we try to make things different, and it was primarily coming from our female soldiers,” Sanders said.

Many of the changes are meant to prevent alopecia, a type of hair loss, and to help express cultural preferences and gender identity, he said.

“This is one way we are working to improve the lives of our soldiers … by putting people first, understanding their concerns, taking action when necessary and maintaining their razor-sharp edge of readiness,” Lt. Gen. Gary Brito, deputy chief of staff for Army Personnel, told reporters in a round table.

“Equity, inclusion and diversity are all very important to Army readiness because we have soldiers from all walks of life … and we have to represent them so our Army policies must therefore promote equity and inclusion.”

One major change will allow buzz cuts for women, a recommendation that came from female soldiers attending Ranger School and other combat arms training courses.

“When they come out of the course, they are out of regulation. As of right now, the current standard will not allow female soldiers to have their hair lower than a quarter of an inch,” Sanders said. “So, we decided in the panel, do we want to make this only for school or do we want to give our women in the Army the opportunity to have their hair at any length? We went with let’s not tell a woman the length of hair she can have. So now, we will specify no minimum hair length for women in the Army.”

The new hair standards will also allow women to wear both short and…