NOW i can FINALLY enlist in the army! maybe i can be in special forces. whaddya think?MSNBC.com
U.S. Army relaxes tattoo rules to attract recruits Soldiers can now have designs on hands, necks, ‘permanent makeup’
Updated: 9:40 p.m. ET March 29, 2006
WASHINGTON -
The U.S. Army, which missed its recruiting goal last year, has relaxed its policy banning certain types of tattoos in a bid to attract new soldiers who otherwise would have been barred from serving.
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 Wednesday.
The Army said it continues to prohibit tattoos anywhere on the head, face or throat area.
But it will allow women recruits and soldiers to sport "permanent makeup" in the form of indelible eye-liner, eyebrows and lip makeup. The Army said this permanent makeup "should be conservative and complement the uniform and complexion in both style and color, and will not be trendy."
‘America’s sons and daughters are getting tattoos’Officials said the policy change was made because the Army understands that the number of young men and women with tattoos or permanent makeup has grown in recent years.
"The Army is America. We are America's sons and daughters. America's sons and daughters are getting tattoos. That means that American soldiers are getting tattoos," said Lt. Col. Bryan Hilferty, an Army spokesman at the Pentagon..........
10 comments:
They're having trouble filling recruiting quotas . . . They've already waived the high school graduation requirement, upped the maximum age, relaxed the clean criminal record requirement, and started taking those who score in the 4 percentile grouping on the ASVAB.
I'm not surprised that they'd keep waiving rules to get the numbers up.
you know it is not the tatoos you have before you go in. It is the retarded tatoos you get while you are in that they should stop.
Having been in the Navy I saw my fair share of some pretty stupid ones.
I'm proud to say I came out ink free. I plan on getting a tatoo after I run a marathon. It will be 262 above my ankle. It will be more significant to me than anyone could ever imagine.
rick, what's WRONG with ink i'd like to know??? (i'm smiling not to worry)
donvinti mine all mean something to me as well. lots of them have ravens in them or wolves. however, i DO have one rather whimsical one of the grinch, max and little cindy loo who (who was no more than two). that means something to me as well though. i am a GIANT dr seuss fan AND my friends all say sometimes my heart is two sizes too small BUT most of the time, it's three sizes too big (kenny, my artist drew concentric hearts in the grinch's chest)
Let me qualify myself for this comment. I'm not against ink. I'm pretty much a raving liberal nut with a healthy respect for self-expression (and sexy tats on women really does it for me, as an aside).
I am a veteran as well (6+ years, including combat). While I have authority issues and always have had, I do have respect for the sensical issues of military discipline. I don't have a problem with gays in the military and think that stupid rule should be abolished. I think women should be able to fly fighters and enter combat.
But, the tattoo issue is a matter of the uniform and image. The reason for the rules is so that conformity reigns supreme with respect to the appearance of members of the armed services. When in uniform, nothing should be visible that differentiates individuals - tattoos, jewelry, etc. It may seem silly, and out of character for most of my otherwise intensely leftist views, but I think it's important.
My points about the other rules and requirements that have been waived contribute to a trend that's going to lead to discipline and professionalism problems (yeah, I know - Tailhook and Abu Ghraid aside there are already a lot of problems). I also don't think that tattooed soldiers are any less capable of discipline than anyone else - don't get me wrong.
Hey, 'The Tatooed Army'! That way they can rip off their clothes and scare the enemy to death, just like they did back in the old Roman days! My, warfare has gotten so sophisticated! Why, one might even say it's 'fashionable'!
rick, i was busting you! i know it's hard to tell but i really was. you make a VERY valid point about conformity in the service.
as a matter of fact, a little while ago we (some town in connecticut) had an issue with a couple of police officers having spider web tats on their elbows. some were saying those were associated with racist (i know some people who have them that are ABSOLUTELY NOT racist)organizations. i'm sure SOME who do wear those tats ARE racist and some simply think they're cool. at any rate, i never did end up having an opinion on ink SHOWING on an officer.
i know i personally keep all of mine covered at work. no one has said i HAVE to mind you (i too have issues with authority, lol) but i DO wear my tasteful (it's VERY tiny) nosering (well it's not a ring, it's a tiny stud type thing)
oh one more thing, THANK YOU for serving
and as for YOU mr shakespeare, I LOVE IT! did you watch any of the hbo series rome by the way? it wasn't half bad
Rose, I know you were just busting on me. But it gave me the chance to ask myself the question, "how do you feel about . . .?" and the answer somewhat surprised me, so I wrote it.
One other thing . . . I appreciate the 'thank you for serving' sentiment, I really do. But the problem is that, as I found out, I never served for you, or any other American Citizen, or to protect the Constitution, or for freedom. I've written a few essays on this on Unspun (some of my earliest posts), but I served at the will and pleasure of Chevron and Exxon and other multinational companies. The military is now merely a taxpayer funded security subsidy for corporations.
Knowing that now, I'm not pleased with my service.
Not to be pimping my own blog here (which I actually hate to do) . . . and in response to your comment over there:
I recommend the following posts.
Life Without Big Government
Why Did I Enlist?
Doing The Right Thing
I hope you enjoy them.
i read them and commented on them and appreciate you giving me the links to them
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