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Tattoos

exNavyOffRec

Well-Known Member
If this is the case, then it appears to me that it's more difficult to become an Army Officer with a Bachelors degree as opposed to some of the other branches. I didn't do an Army ROTC program, so that makes it seem even more difficult. I spoke with an Army recruiter on the phone yesterday about OCS and we scheduled a time to meet next Tuesday. I'm taking my ASTB on Monday and I want to keep my options open in case Navy OCS doesn't work out. The recruiter said he wants to ask me a few questions and then give me a packet to fill out. I'm not sure exactly what it entails (I've tried to research this online with little success), but it's worth looking into.

I would push forward for the USN, your tattoos are not that out of line so give it a shot, generally the USN, USMC and USAF work ok when applicants are checking out all options, not so much with the USA
 

Michael Andrew

New Member
I would push forward for the USN, your tattoos are not that out of line so give it a shot, generally the USN, USMC and USAF work ok when applicants are checking out all options, not so much with the USA

Thanks for the encouragement. Oddly enough I haven't even met with my recruiter, so he doesn't know what my ink looks like. I've briefly described them over the phone and he told me that they could be wavered. Right now it's my biggest concern when going through the application process. I have 0 health issues, no felonies, a good GPA from a good school, and clean record. The Air Force recruiter immediately disqualified me once he saw what they looked like, so I'm pretty nervous.
 

Michael Andrew

New Member
So I sent pictures of my tattoo's to my OC (who I still haven't met yet), and it appears he thinks we can move on with the rest of the application process. I sent photo's of me in a relatively tight t-shirt to show him what can be seen and what can't. You can probably see a lot more of my tattoos in the t-shirt I was wearing as opposed to a Navy uniform. It looks like most Navy uniforms cover most of the upper arm, so really the forearm tattoo on my right arm is the only tattoo that can clearly be seen in uniform. I have one more arm tattoo but it's on my upper right arm and it's no bigger than the size of my hand. I don't think it will be visible in uniform because it's barley visible in a normal t-shirt, if at all. Anyways, I'm meeting my OC tomorrow afternoon to discuss the next steps for applying. He just told me to be ready to explain my tattoos, which is no big deal because they all mean something to me.

Anyways, I also met with an Army recruiter a couple days ago. He gave me a packet, some forms, and a list of documents to bring back next week. I told him that I was also going to apply for Navy OCS and obviously he didn't seem too thrilled and advised against it. I'm still going to look into both because I want to keep my options open, but I have a few questions. If I'm going to apply for both AOCS and NOCS, then do I have to make 2 separate trips to MEPS in order to get medically cleared? I'm going to go back to the Army recruiter next week and turn in some of the necessary paper work and probably do a PT test. I'll probably schedule a time to take the ASVAB as well. What are some of your thoughts on applying for AOCS and NOCS at the same time? Thanks.
 

xj220

Will fly for food.
pilot
Contributor
Thread resurrection time! I've been long time considering getting a tattoo and am getting close to pulling the trigger. I'm going to start small but eventually I'd like to do a full sleeve on my left arm. I saw the Navy's policies regarding tattoos and as far as I can tell it'd be legal. Any gotchas or things I might be missing regarding that? Thanks for any help.
 

DONOSAURU5REX

Well-Known Member
pilot
Thread resurrection time! I've been long time considering getting a tattoo and am getting close to pulling the trigger. I'm going to start small but eventually I'd like to do a full sleeve on my left arm. I saw the Navy's policies regarding tattoos and as far as I can tell it'd be legal. Any gotchas or things I might be missing regarding that? Thanks for any help.
I remember back in the day you would have to run a request chit before you got a tattoo. It was never actually done, but we were always told, "its in the instruction". I have perused the new one pretty thoroughly though and as long as your tattoos are appropriate, and do not contain anything gang related, or profanity you should be fine.
 

Renegade One

Well-Known Member
None
I'd like to do a full sleeve on my left arm. I saw the Navy's policies regarding tattoos and as far as I can tell it'd be legal. Any gotchas or things I might be missing regarding that? Thanks for any help.
Your troops will love you...if that's what you're shooting for.
 

HAL Pilot

Well-Known Member
None
Contributor
If you are ever thinking of going to The Show, tattoos can bite you in the ass. No visible tattoos allowed.

If a long sleeve shirt covers them completely, you'll probably be ok. I know plenty of Show pilots with tattoos but I don't know of any with a full sleeve tattoo.
 

xj220

Will fly for food.
pilot
Contributor
Just get the tattoo. What are they going to do?

Make me get it removed? I don't know, I just wanted to make sure there wasn't anything that I was missing regarding the rules.

HAL, thanks for the input. My goal is nothing visible in a suit or long sleeve shirt so if that's the route I choose to go then I should be ok. Interesting that that's the reg but so be it.
 

picklesuit

Dirty Hinge
pilot
Contributor
Make me get it removed? I don't know, I just wanted to make sure there wasn't anything that I was missing regarding the rules.

HAL, thanks for the input. My goal is nothing visible in a suit or long sleeve shirt so if that's the route I choose to go then I should be ok. Interesting that that's the reg but so be it.
Have you seen what your Sailors are wearing?
You might want to stick to henna and temporary tattoos if you are going to be such a little bitch about it...
 

exNavyOffRec

Well-Known Member
Make me get it removed? I don't know, I just wanted to make sure there wasn't anything that I was missing regarding the rules.

HAL, thanks for the input. My goal is nothing visible in a suit or long sleeve shirt so if that's the route I choose to go then I should be ok. Interesting that that's the reg but so be it.

pretty good advice for many civilian lines of work, I know many at my work do have tattoos and have discussed with other recruiters, the general thought is not seen in a long sleeve shirt, so basically avoid that face tattoo that Mike Tyson has.
 

Ronin88

Well-Known Member
I have a full chest piece and 3/4 sleeves on both arms plus some work on my back and traps. I was still accepted into OCS, though I am a prior but the rules are the same for both sides of the house. The new Policy should make life easy for most people with tattoos.
 
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