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INKEDblog takes you beneath the skin of today's tattoo culture. Our mission is to celebrate tattooing as a modern art form which incorporates art, fashion, style, and pop culture. While paying homage and respect to the past, we look to present a contemporary take on the present and future of skin art.
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Wednesday Feb 22, 2006
US Army Shifts Position on Tattoos, Again
After the last recent ruling on neck tattoos in the US army, it seemed as if a fairly clear standard was developed: neck tats are alright for enlisting soldiers as long as they do not contain offensive, or demoralizing content.
Then a woman tried to enlist with a tattoo that began on the front of her neck and continued down the rest of her torso. The Army balked.
Officers decided to make a rule to exclude this woman but their attempts to use viable reasoning just ended in arbitrary bureaucracy. The new ruling is that neck tattoos in front of the ear portion of the neck are forbidden.
Even Steve Lawson, the spokesman for the Army’s recruiting battalion in Indianapolis agrees that the ruling is confusing. “It’s funky” he reports.
Twenty-four year old Charles Keller is now trying to enlist in the Army but he too has been denied based on his neck tattoo: a three-inch red, white and blue eagle. Keller’s tattoo is under his ear, leaving approximately one inch in front of the ear area.
How complicated does this have to be? Regardless of one’s feelings about the military, with enlistment an extreme low, it seems the Army should be counting its blessings for every qualified person who attempts to enlist.
Beyond that, it’s just not good policy for any company to admit that their hiring procedures are “funky”.
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