Can male soldiers wear lipstick, earrings and ripped clothes while off duty, but on post?

Good Lord! Why are you doing this to us? This is ludicrous!

Y tho

I don't know about the Army but that would never fly in the Marines.i would worry more about what your platoon would do to you off the books for that.you are representing all the honorable men in your branch that came before you.would you want your enemies to see u and fear for their lives or laugh their asses off at a pic of u lipsticked up looking like a damn clown......you know u know the answer

Not on my Watch

Ok, I have been waiting 21 years to tell this story. I was stationed in Germany at Pinder Kaserne. I was with a band and we were getting ready to go practice for an upcoming battle of the bands. It was in the middle of the week. I had purchased a shark tooth earring from one of the vendors at the PX and was wearing it after hours. I was with a friend over at one of the barracks, and he was looking for another guy for something. We had to stop off at the CQ desk due to the Cpt rules. Rumor had it that this Cpt was someone of a stickler for rules and following them. Low and behold, who’s standing at the CQ desk, but the Cpt himself and a LT. As my friend was signing in, the Cpt was looking at me hard and I knew he wanted to say something to me about my earring. So, my nature was never to run, but, fight it out. I asked him “ Sir, seems like you want to say something to me...” The Cpt asked want unit I was with. Once he found out I wasn’t with his unit he seemed disappointed he couldn’t “ correct” me. I pushed him some more by asking why he wanted to know what unit I was in. The Cpt asked if my commander allowed for and on duty person to wear earrings. I told the Cpt no, that my commander didn’t allow that. The Cpt then asked why I was wearing the earring then. I told the Cpt I was off duty. The Cpt then stated” Well, you’re lucky your not in my unit, because my men are on duty from Monday morning at 5am till Friday night at 1700 hours. Therefore they weren’t allowed to wear earrings” I stared intently at this Cpt and then said,” Well, Sir, you and this LT and I need to go over to the post club and arrest every member of your unit that is in there and drinking. Because they are drinking on duty!” The LT had tears streaming down his face as he tried not to bust out laughing at the Cpt. The Cpt has one of those surprised looks on his face that was classic of one who tasted shoe leather. My friend and I conducted our business and left the barracks. My philosophy about what you want to wear and how you wear it, as long as it’s not on duty, interferes with the work, and harms no one, let it be. That’s at least my humble opinion, maybe not the military’s.

I’d question if they were actually a male soldier at that point.

I really want to know why when we all signed the dotted line that said I am no longer a civilian but belong to the U.S. Military can someone then turn around and act as an individual rather than a team. The four branches of service have a job to do and having to deal with individuals that are solely intent on destroying standards that have been kept since the 1800s. The agenda is to tear down and destroy, not to uphold and maintain is unacceptable. If I am required to maintain these rules and regs what is the problem? My time in was service without question. I knew I signed the dotted line so what gives. Are you that important and special more and above any one else?

When you are the senior person, telling a junior person what is expected, you sure as hell don't accept him telling you to call your C.O. What a dumb question! Your first action should have been to emphasize his mistake in telling you anything then continuing to complete the correction process! If you didn't know that, you should not be assigned to to a position where you supervise others! What the hell is happening in the Army?

no some kind of professional aperance should be maintained for gods sake

I get it, you don't like the way he was dressed and don't think the image is what you would want projected, but you need to remember that the compliance to the regulation regardless of personal preference goes both ways. He may not like not being able to dress like that in uniform, but he has to abide by the regulation, regardless of his personal opinion or preferences. You don't like him dressing like that in civilian clothes off-duty, but you have to abide by the regulation, too, regardless of your personal opinions or preferences.

You need to ensure you are familiar with the regulation governing any action or situation in which you make an on-the-spot correction. This is especially important when you are correcting Soldiers outside your unit, or not in uniform or on duty. In this case, AR 670-1, Wear and Appearance of Army Uniforms and Insignia, dated 31 March 2014, does not support all of your 'corrections'. Some areas, such as whether the ripped clothing is unacceptable, would be open to interpretation. The regulation specifies in para 3-1b that in such cases, where the regulation is not specific, the Soldier's commander should make the determination - evidently this Soldier's commander did and supported him. Most of the personal appearance standards in AR 670-1 apply only in uniform or when in civilian clothes ON DUTY. While the regulation states in para 3-2b(1) that males may not wear make-up, it does not specify that this applies off-duty, and so the commander may interpret this prohibition to be, as is most of that portion of the regulation, applying only while in uniform or in civilian clothes ON DUTY. You didn't state whether the earring was pierced or clip-on (or magnetic). Males are prohibited in para 3-4c from wearing pierced earrings at any time, but the regulation is silent on the issue of other earrings (that portion of the regulation is speaking specifically to piercings). The limitation on rings in para 3-4a is only for in uniform or civilian clothes ON DUTY; there is no prohibition on finger jewelry (rings?) at all while off-duty and out of uniform, so he could have worn as much/many as he desired. And as mentioned, the ripped pants are not specifically prohibited by AR 670-1. Commanders vary widely in their interpretations of the 'professional appearance' off-duty directive, especially when Soldiers are off base.

So, know the regulation and only make corrections in accordance with it, and respect the authority of the Soldier's commander to make the judgment calls for 'gray areas' in his unit. Someday you may be the one making those judgment calls and you probably wouldn't appreciate someone from another unit second-guessing your legitimate decisions and posting about it online.