Someone wrote to us late on Friday afternoon and said that some students at the US Army’s Recruiter school had been sent back to their duty stations because of their tattoos. I thought that it was a little strange, so I called the Recruiting Command at Fort Knox and talked to a nice lady at the the Public Affairs Office. She promised to get back to me. So I got this email just a minute ago;<\/p>\n
Mr. Lilyea,<\/p>\n
Six NCOs were returned to their units last week after they had checked into the Recruiting and Retention School. These NCOs had tattoos that do not meet AR 670-1. US Army Recruiting Command has requested a revision to AR 601-1, Assignment of Enlisted Personnel to the US Army Recruiting Command, that states that Army selections for recruiters meet AR 670-1. While that request is in motion, US Army Recruiting Command will not accept NCOs that do not meet that standard.<\/p>\n
The recruiter has been designated by the Department of Defense as a position of special trust and therefore must meet rigorous standards. It is an inconsistent and negative distraction for new soldier prospects to see tattoos on recruiters that the new recruit is not allowed to have. Army recruiters lead by example and, as the face of the Army in more than 1,300 American communities, must exhibit superior military bearing and appearance as required by AR 670-1.<\/p>\n
Best regards,<\/p>\n
US Army Recruiting Command Public Affairs\n<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
I don’t have tattoos, for my own reasons, but I am all about the Army. They’ve written a new policy just this year in regards to tattoos, and that’s fine. They even have a BS program for grandfathering soldiers who had their tattoos before the policy so they can remain in the service. Well, unless they want to advance – because a recruiting job is one of those jobs that soldiers have to have in order to advance along with being a drill sergeant. So I’m guessing drills will be next to be scrutinized for their tattoos, so that recruits don’t get confused about the new standard.<\/p>\n
A decision that soldier made years ago before tattoos were even an issue will affect his career as an NCO. Good job, Army. Good job.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"