NYT: Yes, the Military Needs Bodies. But Hold the Bodywork. (No tattoos)

An inch of skin on the back of Jeremy Griffy's neck is keeping him out of the Coast Guard.

That area displays the uppermost part of a large, intricate tattoo that Mr. Griffy, 22, got on his back three years ago. Because the black ink spills out past the collar of the Coast Guard uniform, it violates a new policy that bars recruits who have tattoos that are visible or that cover more than 25 percent of a limb. Not until such a tattoo is removed can an applicant join the Coast Guard.

Joining is "definitely something I really want to do," said Mr. Griffy, a former marine from Wilmington, N.C. He was turned away in October, and will try to remove enough of his tattoo - which depicts a Cadillac emblem fashioned into a family crest - with a cream his mother ordered off the Internet.

The Coast Guard is hardly alone in adopting a policy on tattoos. In recent years, the Army, the Navy and the Marines have begun forbidding new recruits to have tattoos on their neck, face, head or scalp. And unlike those services, the Air Force does not "grandfather": it requires everyone, regardless of length of service, to cover all visible tattoos with a uniform or have them removed. In addition, all the services forbid offensive, racist or gang tattoos.

more…
http://www.nytimes.com/2005/12/03/national/03tattoo.html

What will the enterprising youth of America choose to stay out of Iraq and stay alive?

pass it over to meeeeeeeee.

but a tattoo is a deal-breaker? Unbelievable.

No different than if they were applying for a job at Walmart

Bush knew that 11 soldiers were killed in Iraq before he went into the rose garden to give some good news on the economy Friday morning. As you will recall he did not mention it. 26 minutes later after his speech the news broke to the press. McCellan said bush knew before he gave the speech....

Nazis, deranged men, Bush*...there might just be a connection, albeit rather abstract. :shrug:

Although the story was rather creepy. While Charlie was cutting the swastika on his head, the girls outside were doing the same - but they had no contact with each other.

I know some guys who were recruiters. You cannot describe the frustration they have when you get a guy who wants to join the Army to get out of bad neighborhood so he can straigthen out his life. In a lot of the Latin cultures and others, kids will get a small gang tattoo of someone's initials on their necks or a small teardrop.

Now these small tattoos are barring guys who want to reform themselves and get away from the trouble in their lives.

The "don't ask, don't tell" is so stupid that it is beyond words.

The final one is that when you join, the recruiters ask you if you were ever arrested. A lot of kids think that their juvenile records are sealed, or if a cop stopped them and the DA didn't prosecute then they are good. Not for the military, if you were ever stopped by any law enforcement official for any reason and he logged it in, then assume that it will come up again during your enlistment process. Your records are not sealed to DOD. If you hold back, then it looks like you were lying to the government, which gives them the excuse to deny your enlistment.

I wonder if we have enough soldiers to defend our country should we ever be attacked? I don't like seeing Uncle Sam denying able-bodied men the chance to reform, but it's just as well they won't get blown up in Fallujah and what-not. I wonder if the Peace Corps would turn them away?

Welcome to DU rickrok66 :hi:

mean the person may be antiwar,anti authoritarian,anti colonialist,or a pacifist.Gangs within the military could cause division among troops by creating dual loyalties and anyone knows fascists can't stand soldiers having any loyalties to anything including their families or themselves..All soldiers down the chain of command must bow to the will of their superiors and the leaders of state.
You join the army you are selling your inner locus of control and your soul to GW bush and you will be responsible for what commands you obey.
The brass won't be accountable to shit,even though you are demanded to obey upon signing the paper.. to obey them regardless disobeying an order is not easy to do as an individual in the hierarchical authority ridden game of the military "structure"..The military strives to take away who you are and supplant it with a new identity of "obedient soldier".
To join the army led with a corrupt immoral leadership as ours is(Bush etc.) is a risk I would rather die than take because I do not want any blood from evil murdering innocents along with the guilty for profit on my hands,to make my conscience torment me for the rest of my days..

A criminal enterprise.

I'm covered in Tats.
My partner has two..
I think I'll see if my nephew wants to get one too.

Feel a draft? Got Ink?

No visible Tattoos allowed.

Also sounds like the Coast Guard is more strict, that way they have to join the Army, Navy or Marines.

...tattoo! Problem solved!

If that keeps you out of the military...

:) that is a way to get out of the Draft. :)

"F*%k the army" was very popular, and it did the trick.

The ones who didn't get tatts drank their own blood the night before the induction physical; blood in the urine was a no no. (It helped having moms who were nurses.)

"If the draft is reinstated, first thing I'm doing is getting a big tatt on my neck and an unplanned pregnancy."

Whatever makes it harder to fill their body bags.

More restrictions please.

These policies aren't new for the DoD (or Homeland Security which the Coasties now fall under). An order came out in early 2004, which detailed the USMC policy for tattoos

Here is a link to the official order concerning size, number, waiver requirements and yea/nay authority for Commissioned Officer in case of large unusual tats(page 3 - 147)
http://www.usmc.mil/directiv.nsf/0dce83e13c9c8aa685256c0c0066c2e0/736601ce41b86edd85256649005020c0/$FILE/MCO%20P1100.72C%20W%20ERRATUM.pdf#search='MCO%201100.72C'

sailor who had been in the service more than a year or two without a tattoo. When I was a kid I used to think you had to have a tattoo to be in the Navy.

so you may be on to something there. He got his back in 1918 and I still associate tattos with very old people. I don't think my father had any, though. At least none visible.

He's making a pro-america statement while hanging the flag incorrectly. I always laugh when I see this kind of stuff.

:bounce: