The
United States Navy is loosening its rules governing tattoos effective
Saturday in response to their growing popularity among young people and
to remove a potential barrier for desired recruits.
Under
the new rules, there will be no limit to the size or number of tattoos
sailors can have below the elbow and the knee. Previous rules restricted
the sizes of tattoos on arms and legs. And for the first time, sailors
can have a neck tattoo, although it cannot be longer than an inch in any
direction.
“We
just got to the point where we realized we needed to be honest with
ourselves and put something in place that was going to reflect the
realities of our country and the needs of our Navy,” Mike D. Stevens, master chief petty officer of the Navy, told The Navy Times.
“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.”
A Harris Poll conducted
last fall found that three in 10 Americans have at least one tattoo, up
from about two in 10 four years earlier. Tattoos are especially popular
among younger Americans, with 47 percent of millennials and 36 percent
of members of Generation X saying they had at least one, Harris
reported.
Those demographics represent an important pool of potential sailors for the Navy. The United States Naval Institute reported that
the average age of recruits in all the armed services is 20 but that
the 17-to-24 age group is a shrinking population. Further, as the
economy has improved, fewer young people are interested in enlisting.
Tattoos have long been entwined with
American seafaring culture, which developed a repertory over time of
anchors, dragons and pinup girls, among other symbols.
Jeff
Phillips, 42, of Jacksonville, Fla., said that during his Navy service
in the early 1990s it was seen as odd if you were enlisted and did not
have a tattoo.
“It
was a rite of passage,” said Mr. Phillips, who got a tattoo of Bugs
Bunny near his left biceps. “ ‘You don’t have a tattoo yet? What’s wrong
with you?’ ”
John-Henry
Doucette, 42, of Virginia Beach, Va., who served from 1991 to 1996,
said he got a “tremendously bad version of Hemingway” on his upper right
arm two years after enlisting.
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Told about the relaxed tattoo rules, he said, “It doesn’t sound like the Navy I served in.”
But,
Mr. Doucette said, if it helps attract young, smart recruits, all the
better, adding that it does not matter what sailors look like or how
many tattoos they have. What does matter, he said, is: “Do your work. Be
good to each other. Have a good ship.”
At All-Out Tattoo in Norfolk, Va.,
Jason Sumners, a tattoo artist of 22 years, said he expects the new
Navy rules to mean little to business, even if the city is home to Naval Station Norfolk, the largest naval complex in the world.
Mr.
Sumners, who is known as Hero, said newly enlisted personnel are the
most conscientious about the rules, but sailors who have served even a
few months disregard them and get what they want.
“As
soon as they get in and figure it out, they don’t care,” he said.
Sailors are seldom seriously punished for infractions, he said.
Mr.
Sumners said that although he knew of the military regulations, he
would be the last one to enforce them. “Why would I let money walk out
the door?” he asked.
But, he added, “If you get something on your face, you’re an idiot.”
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