The Air Force’s top recruiter is personally reviewing recruits’ hand tattoos so they can enlist
The top Air Force recruiter is taking the issue of hand tattoos into his own, well, hands.
BY DAVID ROZA | PUBLISHED SEP 22, 2022 10:09 AM
NEWS
The Air Force has long forbade anything but wedding ring-styled hand tattoos on its airmen and recruits, but the service is reevaluating that policy amid the toughest recruiting year since 1999. Maj. Gen. Edward Thomas Jr., head of the Air Force Recruiting Service, received authority from the Air Force earlier this year to issue waivers to eligible recruits with hand tattoos, and he’s been putting it to good use ever since. His subordinates regularly send him photos of recruits’ hand tattoos for his approval.
“On my iPhone, I get multiple photos a day from my O-6 level group commanders saying ‘hey boss is this okay?’” Thomas told reporters on Wednesday at the Air & Space Forces Association’s Air Space & Cyber Conference at National Harbor, Maryland.
“I say ‘approved,’” said the general, who added that he had evaluated four tattoos that morning. “I’ve approved hundreds of those.”
Thomas recalled how, in 2017, the Air Force set down a new tattoo policy in order to attract new talent and retain airmen.
“The decision was: you can have a full sleeve tattoo but it needed to stop at the hand,” Thomas recalled.
https://taskandpurpose.com/news/air-force-join-hand-tattoos/
