Expert: MARK A. HOWELL - 9/13/2009

Question
Greetings sir I hope you can help me. I have wanted to join the army now for quite some time and a few months ago decided I was going to. I went in and spoke to the recruiter to find out that a tattoo I have on my right ear was currently disqualifying. Sir the tattoo is my husbands name drawn only with a thin black line on the inside of my ear and on the outside going about half way down my ear vines, again drawn only with a thin black line. I was told if I could get it removed then joining wouldn't be a problem and I have no problem getting it removed if that's what it takes to get in, however our financial situation will not allow that. I was told to come back at the beginning of the fiscal year and I am actually going in again this week to see if I can get a waiver. My question is sir is what are my chances of getting this waived? Also, I only have a GED, but i do have 17 college credits currently complete. I understand that going to my recruiter is the best thing to do and I have kept in contact with him, but for some reason I feel he might be leaving some details out. Hes never clear on the whole tattoo thing and what my chances are. I'm not sure if it really is the tattoo or if its my ged. I usually have no problem pushing for answers, but I really want in and don't want to bug the poor guy until he finally says sorry I cant help you. I've looked all over the Internet and haven't really found anything that is going to help me. If I cant get in then I cant get in at this time, all I want is the truth because then I will know what I need to do to join, and I will join one day. Hopefully sooner than later. Any information would be extremely helpful sir and I will be so grateful. Thank you for your time.  

Answer
Mandy,
Wow, for such a simple question it sure requires a complicated answer.

First of all if you had married a guy with the name Ed, or Bob nobody would've noticed.  (Please forgive my humor.)  Truthfully, I've never seen a tattoo inside the ear.  Gee, that must've hurt.
I have also heard that it hurts a lot more to remove a tattoo than to apply one, and removal requires several visits, plus it's expensive.  Tattoos can be removed using several different methods: laser removal, excision or dermabrasion, and the cost varies for each technique.  Laser tattoo removal, which is the most common method, and usually the best, ranges from $200 to $500 per session, according to InfoPlasticSurgery.com.  Since it can take 5 to 20 sessions to remove a tattoo, the total cost could reach $10,000.  Because laser tattoo removal is often painful some people elect to have a local anesthetic. This costs extra - about $50 or more per shot. Also. the surgeon usually prescribes an anesthetic cream to be applied after the treatment, so that prescription costs extra.  Don't be fooled by the advertisements that sell creams claiming to erase tattoos.  They don't work.

I've never even heard of anyone needing a tattoo waiver so I don't know what your chances are of receiving one.  I do know that after you join, the military will NOT pay to have one removed.
It's not like you're asking for a waiver because you have too many tattoos of dragons all over your body, so I'd like to think they'd allow you a waiver.  Your recruiter probably seems uncertain because he's never had to request a tattoo waiver.

Military regulations say a tattoo must no cover more than 2/3 of the body part.  Since the average person's ear is approximately 3 inches, your tattoo cannot be more than 2 inches long.

Don't go back to the recruiter until October 1st.  That's the military's new fiscal year and the 2010 quotas will be released.  As of then they'll be begging for recruits and will be more likely to give you a waiver.  Can you temporarily cover the part on your ear lobe with makeup? or maybe wear large clip-on earrings, or cover it some with your hair?  Anything just to diminish it a little so it won't look too obvious to the recruiter.  Then he'll feel better about asking for a waiver.

As for your GED, there's no problem there whatsoever.

Each of the services strictly limit the number of high school dropouts (which includes GED holders) who can enlist each year. This is because years of military enlistment statistics have shown that this category of enlistees fail to complete their entire first term of military service at about twice the rate of those with a high school diploma or those with college credits.  The Army allows no more than 10% GED enlistments each year.  However,  a recruit that has 15 or more college credits, is in the exact same enlistment category as a high school diploma holder.  So with 17 credits you're good to go.

Also, you can go to the website Goarmy.com and chat live with a recruiter at their headquarters.  Just simply say you didn't feel comfortable talking to your local recruiter.

Whatever you do, wait until October 1st.  You'll be amazed at how things will change then.
I truly think you'll be OK.
Thanks for wanting to serve your country in uniform.
Colonel H

PS.  I'm sorry I couldn't answer sooner, but I just returned from a no-notice mission.