Snowjunkie, to get rid of the curls you may want to try a Brazillian Keratin Treatment. They are quite expensive if you get it done at a salon. There are DIY kits you can buy on Amazon or a local Beauty Supply. I have tried 2 of them. Organix Ever Straight Brazilian Keratin Therapy and the Keratin Research Brazilian Treatment. Both worked well. There are a couple of drawbacks with both. The Organix has to be left in for 2-3 days, while the Keratin Research treatment says you just leave it in overnight. They recommend 3 days for very curly hair. If you do try either treatment, try to do it outside if you can. The fumes from the Organix weren't that bad, but the Keratin Research Treatment were awful.

I can say that they both made my beard extremely soft and it took care of the weird collicky wave that I have on one side of the beard. Personally, I like the curliness of your beard. It gives it nice texture.