British Royal Marines

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Armed Forces Day occurs each and every year on the third Saturday of May (Tomorrow, May 15th this year). This national day of honor was created to salute the loyalty and hard work of American troops in every branch of the military – Army, Navy, Marine Corps, Air Force and Coast Guard. Up until 1949, each branch of the armed forces had their own day of celebration. Unifying these days of tribute into one event, Armed Forces Day was proclaimed to be a national day by President Harry Truman on February 20, 1950.

Fighting for our personal freedoms, members of the United States Armed Forces train hard, work hard and often place themselves in grave danger for the benefit of the greater good. America’s military is one of the largest around in terms of manpower, second only to China, with nearly 1, 473,900 active personnel and 1,458,500 reserve personnel. For most of the history of the armed forces, employment has been voluntary although “drafts” have been implemented in various times of war and peace. The US military is a leading force of might and strength around the world with large amounts of high-tech, powerful equipment to provide marked capabilities in defense and creating an image of power.

Wearing military uniforms is a mandatory requirement to being part of the proverbial team; the styles of uniforms vary from branch to branch and have evolved markedly over time. While official rank and number are required to wear a real military uniform, there are many options in navy, marine, air force and army costumes for even the most ardent of military fans. Wearers of military costumes will command lots of attention dressed up in the replica gear and garments of their idolized men and women in uniform. Some military costumes look realistic down to the last brass button while others are strictly for fun, like the super sexy women’s costumes from the various armed force branches.

Rightfully portrayed as heroes, it’s no wonder that fictional military characters abound in popular culture. From the blazing guns and muscles of big screen, little screen and comic book GI Joe to the Air Force Academy “Top Gun” played by actor Tom Cruise, there are many popular pretend armed forces costumes and costume ideas to choose from. Of course, every army costume, navy costume, marine costume, and air force costume needs costume accessories such as pretend grenades, aviator glasses, army boots, toy machine guns and more!

Amongst some of the most successful online people searches are those for military personnel. Besides the many locators that are there to search for these people, there are also various groups that these people form to keep in touch with each other. Read through the following article about how you can search through some of them.

The marines are just one branch of the defense forces and if you are looking for ways of how to find ex marines then get a few ideas from the paragraphs below on how you can search for them. The first thing that you can do is get in touch with the last station that this person was posted at. They usually have information about the whereabouts of some of their former members and they should be able to help you.

The alternative way of how to find ex marines is to try and look up the groups that these guys use for keeping in touch. This is quite different from a locator. I am referring to reunion sites that these guys use to find guys that they served together with. There are a number of these reunion sites that you will come across and you can use a couple of them to search.

Lastly the other option that you have on ways of how to find ex marines is to use the services of military personnel locator. There are also quite a few of these that you can find and you will find some that are dedicated to the various branches of the military. If you have the service numbers and ranks of the people you want to find then you should not have any problem with this search.

You may think that is kind of odd that the Marine Corps would be making a change in a tattoo policy. Mainly because way back in the day men who were in the service were one of the only people besides criminals and dirt bags that had tattoos. Well the Marine Corps are not making a positive change in their tattoo policy, unfortunately it is a bad one if you have tattoos.

The policy that is being changed is in regards to tattoo sleeves. As of September 4, 2008, Marines who have tattoo sleeves are no longer authorized to serve as a recruiter or Marine Security Guard. The Marine Corp defines a tattoo sleeve as the following:a large tattoo or collection of smaller tattoos that covers or almost covers a person’s arm or leg. This new policy also includes half and quarter sleeves if they are visible in green-on-green, physical training gear.

The reason behind this new policy change is that Marine recruiter or Marine Security Guard have a huge impact on public perception as they routinely interact with civilians, both at home and aboard, in the daily performance of their duties.

This is what staff Sgt. Aaron McMullen a canvassing recruiter, Recruiting Substation Clarksville, Ind., Recruiting Station Louisville, Ky. had to say about the tattoos. “Sleeve tattoos degrade our professional Marine image,” “We keep our uniforms pressed, our brass shiny and our shoes polished. Sleeve tattoos don’t fit with that image.”

However, this policy does not pertain to all positions available. All Marines who have been grandfathered as they call it can still apply for the following jobs. Marine combat instructor, drill instructor or Marine Corps security forces guard.

This just goes to show that even the place where tattoos originated from still considered them taboo.

Your Tattoo Friend

Ashley