The American Spectator

The Spectacle Blog

What's up with this?

The Marines are banning any new, extra-large tattoos below the elbow or the knee, saying such body art is harmful to the Corps' spit-and-polish image...

Marine Corps Commandant Gen. James T. Conway announced the policy change last week.

"Some Marines have taken the liberty of tattooing themselves to a point that is contrary to our professional demeanor and the high standards America has come to expect from us," he said. "I believe tattoos of an excessive nature do not represent our traditional values."

I'm sure the brass know more than I do about the disciplinary environment necessary to make the US military work, so maybe I'm way off base. But I think one of the things that "America has come to expect" from the Marine Corps is that they scare the crap out of our enemies; it seems like big, prominent tats would help with that.

topics:
Environment, Military