Army relaxes tattoo rules to attract recruits

The Army will now allow new recruits and all its current soldiers to have tattoos on their hands and back of their necks as long as they are not "extremist, indecent, sexist or racist," Army officials said on Wednesday.

The Army said it continues to prohibit tattoos anywhere on the head, face or throat area.

Ugh, so much for looking professional.

This is just a bad idea to me. It also leaves a lot of wriggle room. What is and isn't acceptable will change depending on the person.

Professional? We are talking about the day and age where people wear their pants down around their lower butt cheeks and show off their gaudy boxer shorts remember. I imagine they did this because "qualified" applicants were being denied due to tattoos.

Originally Posted by Marinerhodes

Professional? We are talking about the day and age where people wear their pants down around their lower butt cheeks and show off their gaudy boxer shorts remember. I imagine they did this because "qualified" applicants were being denied due to tattoos.

Yeah, I hate that crap.

They are, but if you've got tattoos on your neck and hands, that to me, makes you not qualified by appearance standards. I know it may be "cool" to have them, but it looks like ****. It is important to look professional and not rag-tag. I have nothing against tattoos, but once they start showing up on your neck, face and hands, it's just gone too far.

I always liked the Marine Corps' strict rules to personal apperance and uniform standards. Rarely will you see a Marine in uniform that doesn't look squared away. I think everyone should have those standards.

Unless there are a crap load of people out there with neck and hand tattos that I'm unaware of, I don't see how this policy is going to bolster numbers that much. They could stop turning away guys that had ankle surgery 5 years ago when they fell off of their Grandma's front porch and probably get the same numbers.

If nothing else, let them for a specific term (maybe six years) and have the tattoos removed on the government's dime. Four years for the general contract, two more to pay back Uncle Sam for making you look less stupid.

Now if you'll excuse me, I'm going to go and get "L O V E" tattooed on my knuckles (since "Hate" wouldn't be acceptable) and hit up the Blue to Green program.

ROFLMAO!! Good luck bro!

The US Army isn't the only one relaxing their tattoo rules.

Many police departments are doing it too. The main reason is that people of my generation have tattoos. Back in the day (Old Folks), tattoos were viewed as something that only the lower parts of society would have. But today's generation. Tattoos are viewed differently, infact. One of the Criminal Court Judges in Miami-Dade County is covered in tattoos and rides in to court on a Harley Mototcycle.

Its a bad day when Mainland Chinese soldier have stricter regulations about appearance than the US, bad, bad day.

Originally Posted by 5.56X45mm

The US Army isn't the only one relaxing their tattoo rules.
Many police departments are doing it too. The main reason is that people of my generation have tattoos. Back in the day (Old Folks), tattoos were viewed as something that only the lower parts of society would have. But today's generation. Tattoos are viewed differently, infact. One of the Criminal Court Judges in Miami-Dade County is covered in tattoos and rides in to court on a Harley Mototcycle.

lol...i can see the robe and wig flapping in the wind!!hahahahahahahahah!!!! but seriously, I dont really see the problem with wrist tatoos...theyre covered up by the uniform if appearance is a factor...most of the time, if a soldier wants to look professional at a dinner or something, he just wears a dress jacket and that covers up the wrists(hopefully). But neck might be a little bad ...I mean come on...The numbers really arent going to bolster extremely...Whats the point in sacrificing that long strived-for professionalism for a couple hundred maybe thousand people who probably have no motivation for becoming soldiers...If a person really wants to become a soldier, then they should follow a soldiers habits. And unless they grow up with soldiers with tatoos, they will want to keep themselves looking sharp. take me for instance; i want to be in the National Guard, so I use a quarter inch blade on the side of my skull, and a half inch blade on the top. I keep my neck line even with the bottom of my earlobes, no piercings, and there will be no visible tatoos. (maybe an eagle on my shoulder...)I guess now you could call it "Old Skool"...

I'd like to introduce ya'll to the next crop of officers...
hee hee

Wee....shinies for the snipers!!

He wouldn't even need body armor!