New Air Force Tattoo Policy Disqualifies Roseville Recruit

[The Straight Story]

New Air Force Tattoo Policy Disqualifies Roseville Recruit


SACRAMENTO, CA - One day before shipping off to boot camp in Texas, an Air Force recruit from Roseville has been notified that a tattoo on his right arm will disqualify him for service.

George Sanchez, 19, was told by his recruiter that a new Air Force policy prohibits body art on the "saluting arm," according to his father, George Sanchez, Sr.

"He's devastated. He's crushed," Sanchez Sr. said. "He's been training on his own for the last year and now to be told he's disqualified is heartbreaking."

The senior Sanchez said his son has a tattoo of the family name above the right elbow written in Japanese characters.

According to the official Air Force Web site, tattoos may not be obscene or discriminatory or otherwise detract from a professional image. A spokeswoman for the Air Force Recruiting Service at Lackland Air Force Base in San Antonio confirmed the policy has been expanded to prohibit any body art anywhere on the right arm.

Chief of Public Affairs Christa D'Andrea told News10 the new policy became effective last Wednesday. She said it's the result of the t-shirt and shorts worn during physical training at boot camp becoming an official Air Force uniform.

http://www.news10.net/news/story.aspx?storyid=71077&catid=2

[LisaM]

1. Can't he have the tattoo removed?

Surely that's an option.

[951-Riverside]

2. He should join the Army they don't give a crap n/t

[ShortnFiery]

16. The Marine Corps is discouraging "arm" bracelet tattoos. Yes, even The Corps.

:shrug:

[ET Awful]

3. I have an odd feeling that Mr. Sanchez doesn't know what his tatoo REALLY says . . . I'm not sure

there is a Japanese way of spelling "Sanchez"

[vadawg]

8. rofl, you bet, i love when i see a tattoo that the owner tells me means one thing

and i know it means something else, its amazing how many guys ive met whose mother is called Maria Sanchez.

[anonymous171]

18. It's written in phonetic japanese characters (Katakana) and does indeed spell out "Sanchiezu"

So he is at least immune from the embarrassment of having the phrase "Morning cow" or something tattooed to his arm for the rest of his life.

[TwilightGardener]

4. Recruitment's up, retention's up, Air Force can afford to be picky right now.

[MichaelHarris]

5. my

nieces husband just went entirely though training "boot-camp" I guess for the Air Force. At graduation time the Commander saw a tattoo on his chest and kicked him out. Told him he had six months to get it removed or he will be dishonorably discharged. Also we found out that the recruiter who recruited him is being brought up on charges for misleading the kid. The family is asking that the people who did the physical and saw the tattoo also be punished.

On edit, he was at the same base as this kid!

[sharp_stick]

12. He can't be dishonorably discharged for that

He can be rolled out but that's like never having been there, no way they'll DD him. If he got an "illegal" tat when he was already in, that's a whole different kettle of fish, he could be in serious shit.

On edit: unless that tat is noticeably obscene or racist it's allowed as long as it's covered by uniform. Not only would his admissions team have seen it on his entry his DI and pretty much every one else in camp would have seen it.

http://usmilitary.about.com/cs/airforce/a/aftattoo.htm

[MichaelHarris]

13. I know

that the family back in Texas are trying to make waves about it. They were told that the Commander was a God when it came to those decision, he has the only word in the matter. They are calling for punishment of every person involved in his recruitment. From the recruiter to the people who did his physical, they all passed him through. The kid even asked each one of them specifically about the tattoo.

[Iggo]

21. You mean the recruiters lied?

:o

[enlightenment]

6. Sometimes it seems like they just have too much time on their

hands. The saluting arm? Please . . .

Many years ago, after I had moved from active duty to the reserves (AF), I was standing in a morning inspection when my commander stopped in front of me and demanded to know why I had TWO studs (small silver studs) in ONE earlobe! Didn't I KNOW that was against regs?

I pointed out to him that the reg actually said that women could wear ONE PAIR of small studs in pierced ears. It didn't specify one per ear . . . and I was only wearing one pair.

If looks could kill, I would be dust - but after a moment or two, he laughed. Then he told me to 'change it to the way they meant it - and consider training to be a lawyer'.

[peacetalksforall]

7. saluting arm - it's OK to torture human beings, but not have a tatoo on

THE SALUTING ARM. It's OK to drop bombs, rape woman soldiers, look the other way when maiming a child, steal the father off the street to imprison him, pay bounties to people who are lying, give contracts to thieving corporations, but it is NOT OK to have a tatoo on the SALUTING ARM?

This is not pro/con tatoos. This is hypocritical hype.

[gmoney]

10. "But they're not allowed to write 'f*ck' on their airplanes because... it's obscene!"

Slight paraphrase of Col. Kurtz

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xGTe1vF679U

[peacetalksforall]

22. I'm surprised they didn't say 'blasphemous'.

[gmoney]

26. well, blasphemy is talk against a god, Lord's name in vain, that kind of stuff

I saw Penn & Teller once, and Penn (obviously) said something about how their show had no obscene material, but plenty of blasphemous material... he makes this distinction a fair amount.

[Blue-Jay]

9. How does "Sanchez" look in Japanese characters?

Also, why would you try to translate "Sanchez" into Japanese?

Additionally, is his nickname "Dirty"?

[LiberalFighter]

14. Absolutely! Why tattoo your name in Japanese when one is not Japanese?

[immoderate]

25. You might get CAPTURED by some Japanese. They would take pictures.

And they wouldn't have to answer the question, "Who's that Puerto Rican looking guy?"

--imm

[Quantess]

11. What about wearing long sleeves?

Don't people in the military often get tattooed, anyway?

[pipoman]

20. Attire is dictated by command in the military

there are several uniform configurations and you are told which one you will wear at any given time..you don't get to decide to wear long sleeves. And yes, tattoos have been a long standing part of military life.

[pipoman]

15. In the last year my son has been in the marines

the tat policy has changed 2 times...it seems like a crock o'shit..make the frickin' policy and leave it alone already..

[ShortnFiery]

17. Yes, we keep hearing different stories. Can they have "arm" tattoos now?

My husband is retired from the Corps but never got a tattoo. Many of his fellow Marines did ... some of them were quite colorful. ;)

[pipoman]

19. When he first went in

the rule was you could have tats on your arms as lomg as they were not larger than your hand, then they changed it to no tats which were not covered by a short sleeve uniform shirt, now I believe you can have tats on your arms as long as they are not offensive or racial. Of coarse you still can't have any on your hands, neck, face, or head. My son got this one this summer...no problem with command.

[TexasObserver]

23. The Air Force and Navy can be picky. The Army and Marines can't.

He can be in the Army or the Marines. Or, he can get the tattoo removed.

In a bad economy, the Air Force likely has no problem filling its personnel needs, and can pick and choose among prospective recruits. They will tighten the rules regarding appearance, background, etc.

[tomm2thumbs]

24. he should have had a tattoo artist go all smudgy on top of it - say it was a birthmark

not that it isn't a bit late for that, but hey