The revised Marine Corps’ tattoo policy, released on
Friday, permitted Marines to have “sleeve tattoos” that cover most of their
arms and legs. The allowance came for the first time in 15 years.

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The policy states, “Marines may have tattoos on any area
of the body, excluding the head, neck, and hands, in accordance with this
bulletin.”

However, it also informs Marines that their tattoos may
have professional implications, such as denial of future military assignments, “Officers
and enlisted Marines may continue to be assigned or allowed to serve on Special
Duty Assignment, although assignment to ceremonial and other high visibility
units may be restricted.”

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The new policy broadens the definition of prohibited
“extremist tattoos”. It identifies extremist tattoos as those that, “Advocate,
engage in, or support the forceful, violent, unconstitutional or otherwise
unlawful overthrow of the government of the United States, any state,
commonwealth, district, or territory in the United States; or advocates engages in, or encourages military personnel or DoD or U.S. Coast Guard
civilian employees to violate laws or disobey lawful orders or regulations for
the purpose of disrupting military activities.”

In 2007, the Marine Corps outlawed sleeve tattoos, and
the prohibition was upheld when the tattoo policy was amended in 2016,
preventing Marines from having tattoos around their elbows and knees.

Cpl. Jasper Piala, a Marine infantryman, initiated an online
petition in January 2020 asking the Marine Corps to allow sleeve tattoos, which
got more than 75,000 signatures.

“Competent and decorated Marines in the past and present
who have proven to be an asset for the Marine Corps have been denied
reenlistment and advancement in their field due to increasingly restrictive
tattoo regulations,” Piala wrote in the Change.org
petition. 

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“This creates an increasingly damaging stigma, within
which a Marine who has or desires tattoos outside of the standing regulations
is seen as lacking discipline. There exists no correlation, positive or
negative, between tattoos and effectiveness, efficiency, discipline, or
lethality.”