Full sleeve tattoos, are you for or against all military personnel being "allowed" to have them?

It is new day and age and Tattoos are the norm now. They don't make who you are. It's is a wonderful way of self expression.

I don't see any problem with the number of tattoo's or where they are. The way I look at it I would rather serve with an outstanding person covered in tattoo's than with a total douche with not one single tattoo.

ITHINK, IF U WANT A SLEEVE U GET A SLEEVE...
SIMPLE, IM GLAD THEY DIDNT HAVE THOSE REGS IN THE MARINES WHEN I WAS IN.
ALL TATTOOD UP!!!

I don't have tattoos, but I really don't have anything against them. I'm not sure how full sleeves will look with the Army's white shirt with Class B uniform. Just really not sure.

I often see them on the prison shows on TV.

I have no issue with tattoos. I have two myself but they were put on in a place where they could not be seen as long as I was wearing at least a standard short sleeve
"Charlie" shirt.

Sleeves down to the wrist are a bit much. As PFC (Join to see) said, are we going to okay exotic piercings, ear rings, tongue rings, teeth grinding and they like? Just because something is popular doesn't mean the military should accept it. As a matter of fact, if it is popular in the current culture that is almost a certainty the military should not accept it.

As long as everyone knows the rules going in there should not be an issue. Also there could be the question of impropriety of the tattoos on the forearms down to the wrist. What are they, what do they depict, what do they say etc. You don't want the military censoring tattoos. Best to keep them out of view until your service ends and then have at it.

I say yes as long as it is within the bounds of good taste, i.e. no swastikas or things of that nature. Honestly I see nothing unprofessional about tattoos and have been impressed by the combination of great artistic talent on behalf of the tattoo artist and on the individual receiving the tattoo for choosing such great ideas for their ink.

I will say however that I have a personal distaste for tribal tattoos. Not that they look bad but they look simple as if little thought was put into them. That and far too many people have them. No offense to any on here that do.

As with any downsize, rules and policy change. I love my ink. Tattoos are not a hinderance nor a booster in ones career and I think it's ridiculous that there is so much emphasis on this subject when the focus should be on training, families and protecting our borders. As some have already stated, you either get with the program or seek life elseware.

I'm for them with some pretty reasonable expectations. As long as they're not hateful or malicious racist crap like I've seen some people with I'm all for it. If you want swastickas all up and down your dumb ass arms then ya better believe thats a no-go.

The Army does not allow rolled sleeves so they cannot be seen. This negates the "they are just gross" argument at least as far as the Army is concerned.

When I first came in, tats were not too common on the Navy side although a number of recruits got a needle job after boot camp. I remember this skinny kid got a clipper ship on his chest that looked like an anorexic tug boat. I saw him a long time later and 120 pounds heavier. It finally took sail.

Like many things, I'd like to see the Government, hence military bosses stay out of private matters. Some things do matter like beards don't work too well in a CBR environment. I did see a note from PO1 (Join to see) and agree they are more popular with the Bees. They just weren't around much in the 70-80s timeframe.

My (E3 then) first division chief aboard a tin can had tats everywhere. He was a true hero who used to pilot YPs in Nam, got a lot of frags bringing the boat back in with a pile of casualties, himself included. He got the tats to cover up all the shrapnel scars and then added because he liked them. I remember the county style hinge on the inside of his elbow. He had a bunch of tats on his legs to cover where the hatch was blown into him.

Now the rest of the story. We were in port with the CDO/OOD in their racks and Chief snuck a honey on board but didn't know where to take her. He then decided the Wardroom. While very compromised, an SK opened the hatch and took a picture of them on the table. A few days later an 8x10 glossy of table and legs showed up on the bulletin board. Skipper freaked and Chief was seen wearing long underwear the rest of the deployment. Chief just told the O's that he had a skin condition that the Doc had a special cream for that he didn't want to stain the uniform. We'd laugh every time we heard "special cream". Chief perfected his glare and the O's never connected the dots.