- The U.S. Air Force updated its uniform regulations on Jan. 9 to ban smart glasses with photo, video, or artificial intelligence capabilities for personnel in uniform, citing operational security concerns.
- Other U.S. military services have not issued a service-wide ban on smart glasses, leaving their use subject to local commander discretion or limited experimentation.
The United States Air Force has banned the use of smart glasses by service members while in uniform, citing operational security concerns in an update to its uniform regulations issued on Jan. 9. The updated guidance explicitly prohibits smart glasses equipped with photo, video, or artificial intelligence capabilities.
Task & Purpose reported that an Air Force spokesperson said the change was driven by operational security considerations, as wearable technology capable of recording or transmitting data becomes more widespread across military installations and operational units.
Dana Thayer, information protection chief for the 104th Fighter Wing, said the policy reflects challenges posed by the growing presence of wearable devices such as smartwatches, mobile phones, and smart glasses on military installations. He said such technologies raise questions about where and when they can be used safely, particularly at bases supporting sensitive missions.
“Some of our younger military people that want to embrace it and wear it and use it in day-to-day life is great, but it doesn’t really have a good place on a military installation, at least such as ours,” Thayer said. “Apple watches, camera phones, and stuff like that — we’re always battling where can you use them, where should you not, that sort of thing, so this is just more of an evolving technology that we need to get ahead of.”
Service members are already barred from bringing personal electronic devices, including wearables, into classified spaces. The Air Force’s updated regulation extends that caution more broadly to uniform wear, addressing the risk that smart glasses could capture images, audio, or other data without the wearer’s awareness.
Task & Purpose reported that other branches of the U.S. military have not adopted a service-wide ban on smart glasses. Instead, their regulations generally address personal electronic devices and allow greater discretion for local commanders. Some units in other services are also experimenting with smart glasses for maintenance and training purposes.
Thayer specifically pointed to concerns about devices such as Meta’s AI-enabled glasses, which are capable of recording photos, video, and voice data. In July 2024, Meta announced that its Ray-Ban Meta smart glasses would enable artificial intelligence features by default, allowing the system to analyze images and videos and store voice recordings unless users manually delete them.
“It’s just like when you set up your phone and it’s either ‘Hey Siri’ or ‘Hey Alexa’ — it’s only supposed to listen to that word, but we know that it’s listening to more, so it’s just being cognizant of ‘you don’t know when it’s recording or when it’s compromised,’” Thayer said. “You just never know until it’s too late.”
By contrast, the U.S. Army has taken a different approach. Task & Purpose reported that the Army is testing smart glasses for maintenance tasks, including experiments using Meta glasses to record vehicle repairs. Army officials said the goal is to determine whether artificial intelligence systems trained on recorded maintenance work can eventually guide soldiers through repairs step by step.
During a January town hall, Army Secretary Dan Driscoll said the service is assessing whether recording large volumes of maintenance activity could allow troops to use smart glasses for technical assistance. The Army has also worked with Meta’s technical team at training facilities to record workspaces and environmental conditions.
Despite those experiments, all services maintain strict bans on personal electronic devices in classified areas. Thayer said the Air Force’s concerns extend beyond classified work to routine activities on certain bases, including security checks or medical duties involving personal or controlled information.
“We’re a fighter base,” Thayer said, referring to Barnes Air National Guard Base in Massachusetts. “There’s a lot of vulnerabilities for what we do and we just don’t want to have technology kind of get in the way of that.”