Marines: Sleeves Up, But That’s Not An Order!

U.S. Marines are to be permitted to roll the sleeves of their army fatigues up to show their forearms following a reversal from the commandant on the unpopular policy to the contrary.

The regulation not to roll sleeves up, which has been in place for the last two years, has been highly debated. For their part, Marines have been complaining about the fact that they had been able to bare their arms while in camouflage uniform, but were not allowed to do so under the new regulation.

General James Amos, the commandant and corps Sergeant Michael Barrett, released a statement on Facebook noting that allowing to let the Marines wear their sleeves up sets them apart from other units: “I can’t tell you how many times we have been asked the persistent question, ‘Commandant, are we ever going to return to SLEEVES UP?”

Following that question the statement said exactly what the Marines have wanted to hear for a while: “I’ve thought a lot about this over the past 2.5 years; I realize that it’s important to you. Sleeves up clearly and visually sets us apart.”

He added, “WE HEAR YOU MARINES!” in caps just to make his point louder and clearer.

General Amos also noted that the Marines have been very persistent when it comes to the ‘sleeves up’ policy and this is one of the reasons he gave in and reversed the rules. He told Marines that they could return to ‘sleeves-up status’ when they were in desert camouflage and only in non combat zones.

The new policy is set to kick in on March 9, just in time for the corps switching to desert camouflage to coincide with the summer. The marines aren’t the only ones thrilled with the new policy change, the news received a staggering 25,000 likes on Facebook!