Army Banning Ink Below the Elbows or Knees
The U.S. military and tattoos have an entangled history. The rise of the tattoo in popular culture started with floods of inked veterans—especially from World War II—returning home with them. The first tattoo parlor in New York City, established in 1846, served to mark up Civil War soldiers. It is that strong history that’s probably the reason why a blog post on the Army’s website declared in 2009, “Today, it seems, you couldn’t throw a rock into an Army formation without hitting a Soldier with at least one tattoo.”
So it might be strange for the Army to put forth a new rule banning them on commonly tattooed portions of the body. At the Stars and Stripes, Josh Smith (a former National Journal reporter) reports that Secretary of the Army John McHugh has approved, but not yet signed, a change to the Army’s appearance regulations that would ban tattoos from the forearm, below the knee, or above the neckline. The Army will also require the removal of offensive tattoos, Smith reports, Forcing the removal of offensive tattoos is a step up in severity from current regulations. Currently, “commanders may not order the removal of a tattoo or brand. However, the commander must counsel soldiers, and afford them the opportunity to seek medical advice about removal or alteration of the tattoo or brand.” If the soldier does respond to the counsel, the commander is to make sure “the soldier understands the policy.”
