What's the worst motivational tattoo you've seen in the military?

RallyPoint News — Mon, 31 Oct 2022 11:28:43 -0400

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Response by COL Randall C. made Oct 31 at 2022 12:50 PM

COL Randall C. — Mon, 31 Oct 2022 12:50:57 -0400

Well, I guess you can consider it a tattoo in the sense of "body art".

During my time at Ft. Bliss in the early 90s, there was an NCO in our unit that decided to brand the unit patch onto his upper right arm.

Sounds pretty motivational, right?

That was until he realized that after it was branded on it turned out to be backwards and upside down...

queue the belly laughs.

Response by SFC Joe S. Davis Jr., MSM, DSL made Oct 31 at 2022 2:37 PM

SFC Joe S. Davis Jr., MSM, DSL — Mon, 31 Oct 2022 14:37:40 -0400

THANKS FOR SHARING

Response by CPT Aaron Kletzing made Oct 31 at 2022 11:08 PM

CPT Aaron Kletzing — Mon, 31 Oct 2022 23:08:50 -0400

“Bullets don’t fly without Supply”

^^ yeah, not sure that’s really going to convince people of the point you’re trying to make, lol

Response by SPC Geoffrey Wells made Oct 31 at 2022 11:13 PM

SPC Geoffrey Wells — Mon, 31 Oct 2022 23:13:07 -0400

Those that get the torn flesh/uniform tattoos. There's motivation and then there's full hooah. If I were to get any new ink I would only put my deployment patch on me

Response by SGT Private RallyPoint Member made Nov 2 at 2022 6:58 PM

SGT Private RallyPoint Member — Wed, 02 Nov 2022 18:58:53 -0400

My dads name was Jody… this was a kids tattoo that is saw in Afghanistan while deployed, two weeks later he lost his girlfriend/fiancé with a Jody letter. Talking about a motivational joke that is permanent that backfired. I truly hope the kid is ok, as he was really torn up at the time.

Response by PO3 Keith Danner made Nov 2 at 2022 9:54 PM

PO3 Keith Danner — Wed, 02 Nov 2022 21:54:27 -0400

Success is not final, failure is not fatal: it is the courage to continue that counts.

Response by CPT Victor Poland made Nov 2 at 2022 10:19 PM

CPT Victor Poland — Wed, 02 Nov 2022 22:19:47 -0400

Who the Hell POL. Not sure how that really motivated them

Response by Capt Sylvia DeBorger made Nov 3 at 2022 12:41 AM

Capt Sylvia DeBorger — Thu, 03 Nov 2022 00:41:16 -0400

I haven't seen any good ones.

Response by PVT Ted Rodosovich made Nov 3 at 2022 4:15 AM

PVT Ted Rodosovich — Thu, 03 Nov 2022 04:15:57 -0400

Any references to deities.

Response by MSgt Michelle Coleman made Nov 3 at 2022 6:42 AM

MSgt Michelle Coleman — Thu, 03 Nov 2022 06:42:57 -0400

A coworker, a crew chief, got a Tweety Bird on his ankle in Singapore. It ended up getting infected too

Response by Sgt Theodore Cabral made Nov 3 at 2022 9:01 AM

Sgt Theodore Cabral — Thu, 03 Nov 2022 09:01:51 -0400

Cover Up Names of Ex-Girlfriends.....one OK.....But 3 or More This Person didn't Learn.....LOL

Response by CCMSgt Private RallyPoint Member made Nov 3 at 2022 9:08 AM

CCMSgt Private RallyPoint Member — Thu, 03 Nov 2022 09:08:28 -0400

The worst motivational tattoo I've seen is one that points to hate towards others. I can't believe that some actually think the swastika is appropriate to show off for any reason.

Response by CPL Jason Blackwood made Nov 3 at 2022 9:22 AM

CPL Jason Blackwood — Thu, 03 Nov 2022 09:22:05 -0400

Too scary looking perhaps...?

Response by Sgt Jeremy Gray made Nov 3 at 2022 9:35 AM

Sgt Jeremy Gray — Thu, 03 Nov 2022 09:35:42 -0400

So back when I was in the fleet at Camp Pendleton, there was this Marine (piece of doo doo in my book) who did not come to love the Corps as most of us did,and he wanted a piece of art that not only displayed his motivation but also his distain apparently. Dude got a half eaten apple tattooed on his forearm that said Eat the apple FUCK the CORPS. Needless to say he didn't need motivation anymore after that mistake lol. What do you say to someone with 2 black eyes... nuthin they been told twice!

Response by SPC Charles Cofer made Nov 3 at 2022 11:56 AM

SPC Charles Cofer — Thu, 03 Nov 2022 11:56:17 -0400

upside down eagle

Response by SR David McLeod made Nov 3 at 2022 12:20 PM

SR David McLeod — Thu, 03 Nov 2022 12:20:02 -0400

death before dishonor

Response by CW4 Thomas Montgomery made Nov 3 at 2022 12:49 PM

CW4 Thomas Montgomery — Thu, 03 Nov 2022 12:49:36 -0400

Had to be the Pink Panter riding a skateboard while smoking a cigarette

Response by MSG Phillip Trujillo made Nov 3 at 2022 5:31 PM

MSG Phillip Trujillo — Thu, 03 Nov 2022 17:31:37 -0400

I saw a soldier tattoo
Picking Cigarette butts.

Response by CPL Don Allen made Nov 4 at 2022 7:58 AM

CPL Don Allen — Fri, 04 Nov 2022 07:58:50 -0400

“Be all you can be.” Homer Simpson was in the backdrop.

Response by CPO Marcus Jackson made Nov 4 at 2022 2:55 PM

CPO Marcus Jackson — Fri, 04 Nov 2022 14:55:26 -0400

I think the worst motivational tattoo I've seen was one from a Marine who had the slogan gung ho tattoo across his back but it was misspelled.

Response by CWO5 Jeffrey Backus made Nov 5 at 2022 12:03 PM

CWO5 Jeffrey Backus — Sat, 05 Nov 2022 12:03:52 -0400

Boot had a (then not allowed) tat on his forearm of the Statue of Liberty, modified to have one breast out and holding an AR rather than the torch.

Response by Cpl Norman Reinoehl made Nov 5 at 2022 12:07 PM

Cpl Norman Reinoehl — Sat, 05 Nov 2022 12:07:51 -0400

The worst was with the Marine Corp back in 1965 . . . . . . . . . .

A Vagina with a tongue!

Response by Cpl Norman Reinoehl made Nov 5 at 2022 12:10 PM

Cpl Norman Reinoehl — Sat, 05 Nov 2022 12:10:40 -0400

The worst was with the Marine Corp back in 1965 . . . . . . . . . .
A Vagina with a tongue!

Response by CMSgt Elbert E. Clayton made Nov 5 at 2022 1:42 PM

CMSgt Elbert E. Clayton — Sat, 05 Nov 2022 13:42:09 -0400

Early 1956, Keesler AFB, Biloxi, MS. A wild night in Biloxi, a lot of 17-year-old illegal, but disregarded by law enforcement, drinking and a visit to a tattoo parlor with several other enlistees. Everyone else gets large body defacements of Panthers, dirty words and other hopefully masculine verbiage. I elect 'to get my nickname "Sonny" on my left forearm about midway. Unfortunately, the tattoo parlor artist couldn't spell, didn't give a damn or was fiendishly evil. A few days later when the spelling could be seen clearly, I noted that I was scarred for life with the misspelled "SUnny" that thankfully has faded to a dark and reminding episode in my life. The only thing good I remember from that night was earlier in the evening I had been very fortunate to have tickets to a performance at the airmen's club by "Little Jimmy Dickens" of Country Music fame. His performance was the only motivational factor surrounding that night.

Response by SFC John Yohn made Nov 5 at 2022 9:18 PM

SFC John Yohn — Sat, 05 Nov 2022 21:18:31 -0400

A Purle Heart.

Response by SFC John Yohn made Nov 5 at 2022 9:19 PM

SFC John Yohn — Sat, 05 Nov 2022 21:19:06 -0400

Go Navy.

Response by CPT Andrew Grady made Nov 7 at 2022 5:27 AM

CPT Andrew Grady — Mon, 07 Nov 2022 05:27:24 -0500

Somebody had "Live Free or Die" in black and grey, gothic style lettering, but it was split in half as two half sleeves with other artwork*, and the lettering fell on his triceps just below his short-sleeve line, or at least it was supposed to sit below it. The "Live Free" side was just a tad higher so it would often be covered up, making it look like he was only giving you the option to die.

*The background artwork was an Americana old school naval ship and the American Flag, tastefully wrapped/spangled around his arms

Response by PO2 Robert Kelly made Nov 7 at 2022 7:57 AM

PO2 Robert Kelly — Mon, 07 Nov 2022 07:57:35 -0500

Anything with the Tasmanian devil.

Response by LCpl Hannah Terry made Nov 12 at 2022 5:51 AM

LCpl Hannah Terry — Sat, 12 Nov 2022 05:51:28 -0500

My own, it’s a green crayon! Not the only Marine I’ve seen with green crayon tattoo though!

Response by SSgt Yolanda Ward made Nov 28 at 2022 12:16 AM

SSgt Yolanda Ward — Mon, 28 Nov 2022 00:16:08 -0500

The twenty plus years I spent in the military, I never saw an inspirational tattoo! Most of those seen were reflecting something selfishly valued or an attempt to fit in when others in the unit received tattoos.

Response by SFC Kris Kirk made Nov 30 at 2022 6:32 PM

SFC Kris Kirk — Wed, 30 Nov 2022 18:32:30 -0500

SUPPERMAN

I guess he was good at foraging for food.

Response by SSG Art Luneau made Nov 30 at 2022 7:14 PM

SSG Art Luneau — Wed, 30 Nov 2022 19:14:31 -0500

My LT's ex-girlfriends face tattoed on my Platoon Sgt forearm...

Response by SGT Private RallyPoint Member made Dec 1 at 2022 12:19 AM

SGT Private RallyPoint Member — Thu, 01 Dec 2022 00:19:22 -0500

and eagle with words that I couldn’t make out. The eagle looked like it was burned in a fire

Response by RallyPoint News made Dec 5 at 2022 11:22 AM

RallyPoint News — Mon, 05 Dec 2022 11:22:26 -0500

Congratulations to SSG Art Luneau, CPT Andrew Grady, CPL Don Allen, PO3 Keith Danner, and Sgt Theodore Cabral. You've all won a $100 Amazon gift card! An e-gift card will be sent to the email address associated with your RallyPoint account.

Thanks to all who participated and shared!