Corps tightens restrictions on tattoos - Marine Corps News | News from Afghanistan & Iraq - Marine Corps Times

Corps tightens restrictions on tattoos

Staff Sgt. Ryan Walker thought the group of tattoos on his left leg wasn’t a problem.

The Corps on April 1 set a new policy banning large tattoos or “sleeves” — collections of smaller tattoos that take up a certain area on arms and legs. Despite the fact that Marines have until July 1 to document existing artwork to be grandfathered into the new policy, Walker thought his artwork — four fist-sized tattoos — did not run afoul of the new rules.

But it seems the Marine Corps, or at least his company leaders, thinks those four separate pieces of art constitute a sleeve, which is prohibited under the new policy. So he had to get it documented and grandfathered.

The nine-year veteran, who is based at Camp Lejeune, N.C., and is set to redeploy to Iraq, got the tattoos during Marine security guard duty in Paris. Before the policy came down, he had planned on turning the leg tattoos into a fuller canvas of artwork.

“This is kind of messed up,” said Walker, who had expected to be documented only for the full-sleeve tattoo on his left arm. “My definition of a tattoo is completely different than somebody who doesn’t have a tattoo on her body.”

His company thought the Celtic cross on his other calf was big enough to be considered a sleeve, but Walker succeeding in explaining to them why it wasn’t, he said. The half-completed sleeve on his right arm isn’t fully colored in, and he’s not sure whether he will be able to complete it.

“Some people are saying one thing, some people are saying another thing,” he said, noting friends also are encountering conflicting messages about the new rules. “There’s a lot of gray area.”

The Corps’ latest change in tattoo policy — spurred by concerns from Commandant Gen. James Conway — has generated much confusion about what is and isn’t allowed.

There is equal confusion over works in progress, with Marines unsure whether they should leave their unfinished artwork alone — which could look odd — or color in the artwork and face possible punishment. Based on interviews with various units, some Marines are being allowed to finish up the work, and some aren’t.

The revised policy, issued March 19 in MarAdmin198/07, sets new rules and prohibitions as of April 1 on the growing trend of sleeve tattoos, which Conway and Estrada sought to limit or prohibit. The banned artwork — full-sleeve, half-sleeve and quarter-sleeve tattoos that are visible when a Marine is wearing his PT shirt and shorts — may be one large tattoo or a collection of smaller tattoos that takes up a similar area, according to the policy message, which does not give specific dimensions or definitions of “large” or “small.”

Although such limits or bans were discussed for more than a year, the policy announcement sent leathernecks scrambling to the nearest tattoo shop to get inked before documentation day. Marines who get tattoos that run afoul of the new directive face stiff punishments.

The new policy was a shock to some Marines trying to complete sleeve-type designs on their arms or legs. Some are left wondering whether they can finish their large pieces of artwork. Intricate or larger designs can cost more than $1,000 and require many hours of work and repeated sessions with the tattoo artist to complete.

Although the Corps has prescribed longer transition periods for new T-shirts or new uniforms, the tight deadlines on tattoos have thrown some Marines against the wall.

On Feb. 1, Cpl. Joshua Cunningham completed the first outline of a $3,500 sleeve tattoo on his left leg that includes a koi fish and a dragon. A busy training schedule allowed him only limited sessions with a tattoo artist on Okinawa, Japan.

But with the new restriction on sleeves, Cunningham found it was impossible to get his completed by April 1 — or even before the July 1 documentation deadline — and now he worries that he cannot finish the artwork he began before the policy was announced. Several others in his unit, he said, also are caught in the web of the new rules.

“Collectively, with this new tattoo policy, we stand to lose approximately $20,000 due to unfinished tattoos,” he said.

And it’s not just the lost money that worries him, Cunningham said in an e-mail from Japan, but “the embarrassment I will have to face walking around in shorts for the next few years with a half-finished sleeve tattoo on my leg.”

How much is too much?

Although top officials have been clear in their intention — Conway wrote “I believe tattoos of an excessive nature do not represent our traditional values” in the March 19 message — such clarity hasn’t extended across the Corps to understanding the rules and enforcing and implementing them correctly.

In town hall meetings with Marines in early March, Conway said the intent is to standardize a policy that has been interpreted differently by different commands in years past.

“We’ve got to fix that. That’s unfair to the Marines. It’s got to be one policy interpreted one way through the entire Marine Corps,” he said.

But interviews with several Marines show that what’s in and what’s out isn’t clear. Although many Marines realize no more sleeve tattoos are allowed, anecdotes and spot checks with some leathernecks reveal another interpretation: No art of any kind on forearms or legs that can be seen — which isn’t true.

“There was some initial confusion, and a lot of people read into the MarAdmin too deeply,” said Capt. Travers Foster, a policy analyst with Manpower and Reserve Affairs at Quantico, Va. “Most of the feedback that we've received is questions and to make sure that they implement it consistently.”

The Corps isn’t banning all tattoos, and some tattoos on arms and legs are allowed. But how much ink can a Marine get before hitting the limit?

The rules don’t define what constitutes a “very large tattoo” or specify how many “smaller” tattoos are allowed before someone’s out of regulation.

That’s a departure from other uniform and personal appearance regulations that specify the maximum length of a male Marine’s hair (three inches) and sideburns (one-eighth of an inch), and the maximum length of women’s fingernails (one-quarter of an inch beyond the fingertip) but don’t provide measurements or sizing for body art.

And manpower officials won’t get more specific. “It’s impossible to give a quantitative answer for every tattoo,” Foster said. “It’s just not feasible.”

His suggestion? If you’re worried, “go ahead and document it,” he said. “So all you are doing is protecting this Marine.”

Documentation underway

When asked what a Marine should do if, after July 1, he sees a tattoo he likes but isn’t sure whether he should get it, Foster referred to the policy.

The rules also apply to drilling reservists, who will document their tattoos during drill periods, and the same dates apply.

The Corps is relying on documentation to identify Marines with existing sleeve-type tattoos before the deadline. That status is supposed to protect them from repercussions because their arms or legs sport sizable skin art.

Documentation must be made in a Page 11 entry, a form that should include a photograph of the tattoo or tattoos, measurement of the tattoo size in inches, location of the tattoo(s) and date of documentation. Marines must sign the form, which is then included in their Service Record Book or Officer Qualification Record.

“A sleeve tattoo is the only thing that requires documentation,” Foster noted.

That’s not well understood. Several Marines said some commands are documenting any tattoo visible in PT gear and, in extreme cases, are telling Marines that tattoos hidden under PT clothes must be photographed and documented into the record, as well.

One article distributed by Marine Corps News stated “any visible tattoos in PT gear must be photographed, measured, described and inserted” into the record book.

“I think any Marine who gets a tattoo that is visible in PT gear is setting himself up for failure in his career,” Sgt. Maj. Michael Berg of Headquarters and Service Battalion at Marine Forces Pacific in Hawaii said in the Marine Corps News article.

Not exactly, Foster said. What’s supposed to be documented are the visible sleeve tattoos, not every tattoo. The responsibility falls to the unit doing the documentation to query and check their Marines.

Questionable tattoos — those your command thinks violate the rules or should disqualify you from a special duty or promotion — will require a higher review in Quantico.

Manpower officials will be the “adjudicating authority” in those cases, according to the new policy. Units must submit a package that includes an explanation by the commander of why those tattoos are deemed questionable.

Violations could spell trouble. Commanders will determine punishment, with the maximum being two years in prison and a dishonorable discharge.

Anger in the ranks

The new rules have stirred complaints on the Web — some over the confusing rules, others over the mere fact that Marines are being told to limit their body art.

“This new order is crap. This is going to force me out,” wrote “Inkedupmarine,” a poster to an online forum at http://www.marinecorpstimes.com who said he is a six-year Marine and Iraq veteran. “I love everything about the Corps and planned on doing 20 or more years, but I choose tattoos over the Corps. I have given a lot to the Corps. Blood, sweat, tears, deployment and the strain on my family. This was the straw [that] broke the camel’s back.”

Another writer, “Maybeeim,” echoed the thought. “Of course, the same people pushing these things are the ones who don’t have tattoos, and it won’t bother them,” he wrote. “I don’t see how in any way possible a tattoo I have on my arm is going to affect my work performance. And now it will hurt my promotions? Are you kidding me? So the numbskull next to me who doesn’t know his job but doesn’t have tattoos will have an advantage over me ... why? Because of a tattoo?”

“I personally think the new ban on our hard-charging devil dogs getting ink done is STUPID!” one self-proclaimed sergeant and Iraq veteran wrote on http://www.grunt.com. “So, we can go to foreign countries and lay our lives on the line, but we can’t get tattoos on our body!”

Tattoos, once the skin-art choice of renegades, sailors, Marines and other select groups of people, have become popular with wider segments of society.

“It’s become so trendy. It is accepted,” said Drew Meier, an artist at About Face Tattoos in Oceanside, Calif. “It says, ‘I’m good at what I do.’”

But the Corps’ new restrictions have put a big dent in the business, at least after a boom in the busy days before April 1. “It was the busiest I’ve ever seen,” Meier said.

Meier said she can’t recall how many times she’s inked Marines with existing tattoos, many proclaiming love for the Corps, their family or even their dreams and nightmares. And most of them aren’t hidden beneath clothes. “The whole point is to show them off,” she noted.

And in Iraq, Walker said, tattoos are one of those bits of home that some leathernecks lean on through the craziness of combat.

“When they’re bored, they sit there and they draw up new tattoos to get when they go home,” he said.

First Sgt. Joseph Bell, with Charlie Company, 2nd Reconnaissance Battalion, at Camp Lejeune, N.C., wrote a point paper that takes issue with the new policy.

“We are a country that prides itself on freedom of self expression and civilian liberties,” he wrote.

The Corps draws young people who hope for a better life and direction, and bad behavior isn’t relegated to Marines with tattoos, he wrote.

“A bad reputation does not lie in the color of skin. It lies in deed and action,” he added. “At a time when our nation needs these young adults most, we are turning our backs on them because senior leaders think that a group of tattoos translates to the Corps not maintaining its highest standards.

“As the Marine Corps attempts to increase its end strength and fight the global war on terror, limiting a large portion of our recruiting pool is not the answer,” he continued. “Patrolling the streets of Iraq, I would rather have an inked-out Marine next to me with his core values intact than a convicted felon who has a proven track record of freely giving up everything I stand for morally.”

Finishing the work

With a July 1 deadline for documentation, units across the Corps are rushing to implement the policy and document affected Marines.

At Camp Pendleton, Calif., Master Sgt. Michael Roth reviewed an initial group of 60 packages of Marines with somewhat questionable tattoos, and 10 fell into the new restrictions, including full sleeves and larger designs.

Roth, the staff NCO in charge of the Consolidated Personnel Administration Center at the base, was trying to finalize the Page 11 documentation so at least the records are consistent in pulling together the photographs of tattoos, descriptions and sizes that are required by the policy.

Some battalions have interpreted the rules to require more tattoo documentation than the rules specify, and Roth conceded that there’s room for confusion. “Most of the questions probably get posted to the first sergeants,” he said.

Still, cursory checks of some units show that questions remain about Marines with uncompleted sleeve tattoos.

“Whatever the Marine had on 1 April 2007 will be grandfathered and documented. Given that the MarAdmin was published on 19 March, the Marines had ample time to have any questions filled in with color, details, etc.,” wrote Sgt. Maj. Russell Brown, the top enlisted man with Marine Attack Squadron 513 at Marine Corps Air Station Yuma, Ariz.

But others say the rules give Marines a little more time, if they’re not yet documented, to get the sleeve completed or filled in with color before the July 1 documentation deadline.

One unit sergeant major “told my two [Marines with sleeves] that if they have any artwork pending, to get it done ASAP because July is right around the corner.” Another unit is noting in such documentation that the sleeve tattoo isn’t filled in yet.

Another sergeant major, whose squadron returned from Iraq on April 27, issued similar guidance. “Marines that had outlined artwork could complete those existing designs before 1 July. No additional outlines or additional artwork can be added,” said Sgt. Maj. Kenneth Warren, with Marine Light Attack Helicopter Squadron 367 at Camp Pendleton. Section chiefs began documentation while the squadron was deployed to the air base at Camp Taqaddum, Iraq. After the current tattoos are documented, “on 30 June any Marines that fell into this category will be re-photographed and confirm no new designs were added.”

It’s up to units and commanders to figure out the policy in this area. The new rules didn’t address works in progress, and in a question-and-answer sheet distributed to units, manpower officials provide no additional guidance for units handling some of those gray-area cases. When presented with different scenarios, Foster would not comment.

That’s an important yet undefined distinction to Marines such as Cunningham on Okinawa, who was in the midst of getting artwork when the Corps changed the rules.

Ideally, Cunningham would like the same artist to complete the work, but the calendar and his training schedule won’t allow for that. He’s not sure whether he will be able to add anything before July 1 to improve the outlined look, and his concerns have left him worried and less motivated, he said. His unit documented his sleeve in-progress April 5, although he had not seen the entry.

“All we are asking is that we can finish the tattoos that are already started and have paid for,” he said. “We are not asking to make them bigger. We are just asking for the work we paid for to be able to be finished.”

Adding some clarity

It’s been two months since the Corps banned certain large tattoos on arms and legs. The rules protect Marines who already have those tattoos.

But based on interviews with Marines at various commands, the new policy is still vague. Even manpower officials at Quantico, Va., who hold the final say on what’s in and what’s out, said that misunderstanding and rumors about the new policy have led many commands to go overboard in trying to implement it.

The answers to the following questions are based on information from manpower officials.

A. No. There is no outright tattoo prohibition. Tattoos are still allowed — but with some limitations. So if you haven’t inked your arms or legs yet, keep the new rule in mind: You can’t cover your arms or legs in full-, half- or quarter-sleeve tattoos. Any future tattoos on your arms below the mid-biceps to the wrist, or legs below mid-thigh to the ankle, can’t be very large — and smaller tattoos in those areas are limited, too. Tattoos on your chest, back, stomach, shoulders, hips and other spots continue to be allowed — and you can ink as much as you want — provided those aren’t sexist, racist, vulgar, anti-American, anti-social, gang-related, or related to extremist groups or organizations, according to the existing policy.

A. That will be in the eye of the beholder — your command — in many cases. The tattoo rules don’t specify what the Corps considers a “very big tattoo” or artwork that “covers or almost covers” a limb, nor does it specify the maximum size or surface of allowable tattoos, a surprise considering the Corps’ broad uniform regulations dictate some rules by fractions of an inch. Officials at Manpower and Reserve Affairs, when pressed by Marine Corps Times, wouldn’t provide more specificity about allowable or prohibited sizes and amounts of ink, and they haven’t specified at what point someone’s tattoos put them out of regs.

A. To some tattoo purists, a full-up sleeve is just what it sounds like: A complete covering of a limb with artwork, often with color and intricate designs, from the shoulder to the wrist. Half-sleeve tattoos generally cover and wrap around an upper arm above their elbow or forearm. Quarter-sleeve tattoos are smaller and sometimes cover one side of that part of the arm or leg. But note this: The new tattoo policy doesn’t specify in inches what each of those is. So if you think you have one, you likely will have lots of explaining and convincing to do.

A. Officials at Manpower and Reserve Affairs wouldn’t provide any detailed definitions, other than what’s stated in MarAdmin 198/07. So it’s likely that your tattoo will be seen in one of two ways: It’s a sleeve tattoo so it must be documented by your unit and thus grandfathered, and any more similar tattoos would be prohibited. Or it’s not a sleeve, but because it covers a larger area of your arm, it falls into the “smaller tattoos that cover or almost cover” your arm, so you should get it documented on a Page 11 entry in your Service Record Book. Less likely is a third option: It’s not inked enough to fall under either, so it’s neither banned nor grandfathered. Don’t bet on that, though.

A. The new policy calls for documentation of sleeves — and only sleeves. It states: “Marines who currently have a sleeve tattoo(s) will be grandfathered. The Marine’s command will insert a photograph(s) of the respective tattoo(s) along with a measurement(s) of the size in inches and of the location(s) on the body and the date the tattoo(s) was documented, on the Page 11 of the Marine’s SRB. The Marine will sign the Page 11 entry verifying the information is correct.” So tattoos within the regulations, regardless of whether they are visible in PT gear, aren’t supposed to be documented, according to manpower officials.

A. The new policy took effect April 1, but it requires all units to complete their grandfathering and documentation before July 1. You might get a break in that time gap, depending on where you are assigned and when your command is documenting tattoos, although some might consider any new ink on your sleeve prohibited. But, according to the Marine Corps Uniform Board Web site: “Marines will have until 1 July 2007 to request the grandfather authority.”

A. You’re fine to finish that one. As long as that tattoo doesn’t extend below your biceps or up your neck — so it’s not seen when you wear your T-shirt — you are still within the existing regs, and the new policy doesn’t affect you. Note: You don’t have to document that tattoo. The revised rule does not require every existing hidden or visible tattoo to be documented, despite what some commands have done.

A. Your current command sized your artwork as a collection of tattoos that fall under the new rules, although it’s uncertain whether it had to get grandfathered. Manpower officials concede such worry:

“If you’re unsure, document the tattoo. The Page 11 entry is meant to protect the Marine; it is not punitive.” Any decisions on questionable artwork will be mediated by manpower officials at Quantico.