due-to-tattoo-policy.html?
Like they say, the difference between love and a tattoo is that a tattoo is
forever.
El Paso Times, Texas | Jun 27, 2014 | by Kristopher Rivera
About 100 men and women in El Paso who wanted to enlist in the Army have
been turned away because of new tattoo policies that began March 31, said a
statement from the Army Recruiting Command in Phoenix.
"A lot of the applicants come in here with tattoos or with gauged ears and
they've been wanting to join the military since they were kids and they're
not able to," said Capt. Joshua Jacquez, Army recruiting company commander
in El Paso.
According to Army Regulation 670-1, which details grooming and appearance
standards for all soldiers while in uniform, new recruits cannot have more
than four tattoos below the elbow or knee. Tattoos are also prohibited on
the neck, face, head, hands, wrists and fingers. Ear gauges are also
prohibited. Individual tattoos must be smaller than the recruit's hand.
Individual tattoos that are clustered together to appear as one large tattoo
are prohibited.
Excessive tattoos in the Army "was nothing that was getting out of hand,"
said Lt. Col. Jennifer McAfee, U.S. Army Recruiting Battalion Phoenix
commander.
And the policy has not hurt recruitment numbers in El Paso, according
McAfee.
"We're still putting many men and women in the Army, even though the Army's
drawing down," she said.
For 2014, McAfee said the goal is to recruit more than 57,000 people for the
Army and 18,000 recruits for in the Army Reserves.
"We're on track to make it," she added.
If new recruits decide to get tattoo removal, they should be cautious, said
McAfee.
"(New recruits) they have to be careful about who they go to because they
might leave a branding," she said.
A branding is a permanent mark left behind from a burn, which can be the
result after a tattoo removal procedure. It can lead to an applicant being
denied from enlisting.
By Epictetus
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