AFAIK, the tatoo regs have been relaxed a bit over the last few years. According to my BIL, tats are permitted as long as they aren't visible when in uniform, and if they don't promote gang ties or criminal activity.
He also told me that recruiters are increasingly looking the other way when it comes to obesity (truthfully, he was ranting about it). I was told that many guys are getting into basic who wouldn't have even been looked at 10 years ago. The assumption is that they'll either lose the weight quick, or they'll just quit.
Recruiters have no say over height and wieght matters. It is the doc at the physical that passes or fails them.
The assumption is that they'll either lose the weight quick, or they'll just quit.
RRRRoooooaaaaaadddd GGGGGGaaaaauuuuurrrrrdddd
Well, my reservist (IRR) brother worked very hard to get into shape for deployment to Iraq, worried he wouldn't make the cut, only to find he was in the upper portion of his group--and one of the younger ones, in his mid-30s. He said they were taking just about anyone.
There's the story of the 70-year-old retired Army colonel called-up and sent to Afghanistan, plus the other septuagenarian who was nearly arrested for ignoring the recall notices, figuring they must be a mistake since they were sent to his current residence--an assisted-living facility! Well, they were serious, though he was allowed to go home after the physical. :-)