Navy Eases Rules About Tattoos

»Image, video from Facebook page of Master Chief Petty Officer of the Navy (MCPON)(AW/NAC) Michael D. Stevens

In a bid to hold on to talented service members and widen the recruiting pool in an age where tattoos are commonplace, the United States Navy has eased its restrictions on body art.

U.S. Navy regulations long prohibited visible ink art on their hands or neck, which kept sailors from positions that led to promotion: recruiting or leading recruits at boot camp

But body art is popular with millenials. The Navy will soon allow sailors from the millennial generation to have neck tattoos, sleeves and markings behind their ears under the new policy that takes effect April 30.

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The Navy Times reports the new policy on tattoos is the most lenient of any military branch. Only their heads are off limits under the new rule, which Navy brass said makes sense in an era where nearly one in three young adults has a tattoo.

“We need to make sure that we’re not missing any opportunities to recruit and retain the best and the brightest because of our policies,” Master Chief Petty Officer of the Navy Mike Stevens told The Navy Times.

The new rules, announced Thursday, will allow sailors to:

• Have multiple or large tattoos below the elbow or knee, including the wrists and hands, effectively allowing sleeve tattoos that can be seen even while wearing short sleeve uniforms.
• Have one tattoo on their neck, which includes behind the ear, and it may not exceed 1 inch in length or height in either or both directions.

The rules do not change the Navy’s rules about body art “anywhere on the body,” the policy says. The service has kept its ban of tattoos that are obscene, sexually explicit, and or advocate discrimination based on sex, race, religion, ethnicity, or national origin.

»Read the full Navy Times story here.