Army set to ease tattoo rules

20 minutes ago

By Travis J. Tritten

Stars and Stripes

Published: April 1, 2015

WASHINGTON — The Army announced Wednesday it will soon ease restrictions on tattoos imposed last year to improve soldiers’ appearance.

The new policy will lift limits on the number and size but still prohibit tattoos on the neck and face. Tattoos with racist, sexist or extremist imagery will also remain prohibited, according to Army spokesman Wayne Hall.

The regulations are among a series of planned changes to Army Regulation 670-1, which deals with dress and appearance. The service said the changes will be effective when the new rule is published, which is expected to be “soon” though no date was set.

“This is essentially rolling the [tattoo] regulation back to what it was before the last change,” Hall said.

A year ago, the Army announced that full-sleeve tattoos were banned and no more than four small tattoos could be visible on the lower arms and legs. Those who already had them were grandfathered.

Hall said soldiers will no longer face limits on the size and amount of tattoos on their arms and legs. But the Army will continue to prohibit them on the neck above the T-shirt collar, on the head or face, and on the hands and wrists except for single ring tattoos.

New tattoo and grooming standards issued in March of last year caused public controversy, mostly because they banned certain hairstyles popular among black female soldiers.

The hairstyle rules were eased in September but the Army did not initially budge on the tattoo rules.

Hall said the coming changes are due to input the Army received over the past year from soldiers.

“We want soldiers to play a role in helping to shape policy,” he said.

Other changes to 670-1 will deal with traveling in uniform and allow commanders to authorize soldiers to fly in their Army combat uniform, Hall said.

“This is one change of a number of changes that will be done to 670-1,” he said.

tritten.travis@stripes.com

Twitter: @Travis_Tritten