Can an Air National Guard member reenlist with a tattoo above the neckline?

PO2 Private RallyPoint Member — Thu, 10 May 2018 20:44:02 -0400

Aloha, trying to help a battle out.

Not a soldier, sailor here, and from what I read AR 670-1 doesn't allow any tattoos above the neckline of a standard T-shirt.

An Army Air National Guard member is trying to reenlist, 15 years in service. Has a tattoo behind the ear. Has 15 other tattoos, all undocumented.

Are they precluded from reenlisting, or can they get a waiver?

Response by SFC Steven Borders made May 10 at 2018 9:35 PM

SFC Steven Borders — Thu, 10 May 2018 21:35:27 -0400

PO2 Private RallyPoint Member Did he have the tattoo when he enlisted to being with. If so he should already have a waiver in. He already has 15 years, so I would assume he has enlisted before. But best bet talk to retention they will all the ins and outs.

Response by Capt Daniel Goodman made May 11 at 2018 1:44 AM

Capt Daniel Goodman — Fri, 11 May 2018 01:44:12 -0400

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4411606/

I'm sendingnyou this to illustrate a point...I appreciate why you ask your question, however, you're ignoring the very real, albeit possibly expensive, admittedly also possibly quite painful, I'm not entirely sure of that aspect, of having your tattoos surgically removed by laser, which method does, as you'll see on reading the article here, very definitely exist. How you'd get such dermatological or plastic surgery paid for I obv can't suggest, of course, also, I have zero clue if any insurance would pay for it, so, you might be stuck with out of pocket expense...whether that mig ht be deductible as a needed clinical expense, I also, likewise, have absolutely no idea. I merely pose the concept as one you might likely not have considered, of only for the simple reason that I've been reading a fairly frequent number of tattoo related questions similar to yours...I'm also quite well aware that the whole tattoo question varies significantly between svcs and/or their specific components. That being said, I could pose that tattoos, while quite understandable culturally, are, in the present day and age, esp in the svcs, deemed outmoded, in prior eras, hey doubtless would've been regarded somewhat less askance apparently, depending in both location and/or extent, as well as type or content. That being said, obv, ipfor me to make any such judgment is quite clearly not my place, certainly...I also have virtually no idea whether such procedures would be acceptable to a svc, however, I was somewhat thinking the matter was weather akin to LASIK for vision correction, which I have known of at least one instance where someone did that to meet vision standards for doing governmental related work at a state/local level. I clearly realize the analogy isn't necessarily precise, certainly, I've never had such procedures of either type, I !erely knew of an instance where LASIK had evidence toy been accepted, so, I merely pose that, of the cosmetic effect of the tattoo removal might be clinically as well as socially acceptable to a svc, you might at least pose the question, if nothing else, that's all I'm meaning to suggest. I'm total perm disabled, I was only doctoral level allied health, though my wife and I shut my license sevl urs ago due to my disability. So, for that reason, it is obv also not my place to give you advice beyond merely anecdotally noting that such laser based tattoo removal surgical procedures do apparently exist. I have virtually no idea how they're arranged, though, as I'd said, I'd certainly expect it'd be an extremely sub specialized area of either dermatological or plastic surgery, as I'd explained. I hope, if nothing else, that you at least might perhaps find the suggestion useful...I'd also think that you'd want the very highest clinical opinions, or possibly multiple opinions, that you'd want to seek out those dermatological and/or plastic surgeons board certified, as well as specifically fellowship trained expressly for such procedures, laser surgery is very definitely not for amateurs, or clinical novices...as with any highly professional field, no one individual necessarily has all the desired information, nor necessarily all the needed background to give a truly welp-informed opinion, which is why, if you'd even remotely think of such a thuing, that you most certainly seek out multiple viewpoints, certainly at preferably a major surgical center, preferably a university based hospital, to get a proper viewpoint, and/or multiple viewpoints. No properly trained, experienced clinician will Eger "wing it", on something like this, if you will, doing it ad hoc, both from a professional liability standpoint, as well as from an a purely ethical perspective, doing procedures of he complexity of those posed in the article here arez thus, very much not a case of " amateur night", if you will. Proper clinicians, I assure you, and I trained under many before my total perm disability, most assuredly, thus, do not 'dabble" with such involved procedures...all good major university affiliated med ctr, will have, generally, dermatological and/or plastic surgery affiliated, and, of those clinicians, only certain ones would be adequately trained, and qualified, to perform such involved laser based tattoo removal. I !erely thought to explain that in such a level of detail to leave absolutely no doubt in your mind that even remotely contemplating such a procedure, assuming you could afford it, in whatever fashion, isn't merely a matter of looking through Google, or in he yellow pages, otd take some fairly considerable time, effort, and research, so don't just go to the first one saying they're qualified to even remotely attempt it. You might perhaps not be a suitable candidate for the procedure, there could be complications, ramifications, the point is, you quite clearly, I'd think, need very expert advice, which is why I've gone into such a level of detail so as to be quite unequivocally clear as to how you might sensibly, and extremely cautiously, approach even contemplating such an alternative, I hope that info was of at least some use, I'd be most eager for your thoughts, should you care to chat further, many thanks.

Laser Tattoo Removal: A Clinical Update

Techniques for tattoo removal have evolved significantly over the years. The commonly used Quality-switched (QS) ruby, alexandrite, and Nd:YAG lasers are the traditional workhorses for tattoo removal. Newer strategies using combination laser treatments, ...

Response by Capt Daniel Goodman made May 11 at 2018 1:49 AM

Capt Daniel Goodman — Fri, 11 May 2018 01:49:11 -0400

I also just noticed you're Hosp corpsman...I jadmt noticed tat before, so, certainly, such a possibility might've occurred to you to ask about, of not, given your clinical training, I should certainly think you'd be in a fairly good environment to at least pose such questions, amongst those clinicians you normally deal with, of course....

Response by SGT Ej P. made May 11 at 2018 3:35 AM

SGT Ej P. — Fri, 11 May 2018 03:35:40 -0400

AR is Army Regulations so if you mean Air Guard as in Air Force then your best bet is to inquire with an Air (Force) National Guard recruiter for current regs and/or waivers, and if you say "reenlist" meaning the Airman is already in and just extending their contact or you mean "enlist" where they are new recruits or prior service switching branches?

Response by SGM Bill Frazer made May 11 at 2018 7:16 PM

SGM Bill Frazer — Fri, 11 May 2018 19:16:15 -0400

They can try for a waiver- seeing if they are fresh, Sm is probably grandfathered in- but the undocumented fact may bit him in the 4th POC.