Reversing a policy set in March 2014, the Army will allow soldiers to receive full-sleeve tattoos, Stars and Stripes reports.
The new policy will lift limits on the number and size but still prohibit tattoos on the neck and face. Tattoos with racist, sexist or extremist imagery will also remain prohibited, according to Army spokesman Wayne Hall … “This is essentially rolling the [tattoo] regulation back to what it was before the last change,” Hall said.
Hand and wrist tattoos will also remain banned (except for “single ring” inkings).
The 2014 Army rules limited soldiers to “four small tattoos” on the lower arms and legs. (The upper arms and legs and torso are fair game for larger images.) Those regulations were similar to the more restrictive policies of the Marine Corps, Navy, and Air Force, which indicate that tattoos visible in standard dress situations (including short sleeves) must be smaller than the recipient’s hand or, in the case of the Air Force, must not exceed 25 percent of the exposed body part’s surface area.
