To clear up the many questions about Tattoo's that keep appearing. Recruiters and File Managers cannot tell you if your tattoo will or will not be approved upon your recruiting process. The only people involved in that are the MCC, UPSO, CFRC CO, RPSO, CFRG CWO & CFRG Commander (acronyms defined below).
If you do not have a tattoo and you are thinking about getting one - your best bet is to hold off. As a Recruiter I will not tell you not to get one, but when you are trying to join an organization with a tattoo policy your best bet is to hold off.
STEP 1
Initial assessment of eligibility by the Military Career Counsellor (MCC). When there is no doubt that the applicant is in compliance with the CAF tattoo policy, the MCC can continue processing the application. When in doubt, the MCC remains the main point of contact for applicant counselling and must take the following steps:
a. During the eligibility interview, the MCC must ask the applicant whether they have any tattoos and if so must ask the applicant for a description of all their tattoos, as well as their meaning and location, as set out in the interview guide;
b. The MCC must record the information concerning all tattoos in the interview guide;
c. When in doubt, the MCC can ask an applicant to take photos of his/her tattoos for evaluation purposes;
d. When in doubt, the MCC must do research to determine what the tattoos represent;
e. If still in doubt, the MCC must ask the UPSO (Unit Personnel Selection Officer) for his/her opinion;
f. The decision must be recorded; and
g. If the file must be sent to the CFRC CO for a final decision, the MCC must fill out the CFRG Tattoo Evaluation Request form and send it to the UPSO.
STEP 2
Eligibility evaluation and recommendation by the UPSO. If required by the MCC, the UPSO must take the following steps:
a. Make sure that the MCC has considered and evaluated all compensating factors and/or all circumstances;
b. Review all CFRG Tattoo Evaluation Request forms to verify accuracy, perform quality control (QC) and verify the justification including any additional research regarding the meaning of a tattoo;
c. The CFRC CO must refer, via the UPSO, to precedents before making a final decision. All similar tattoos that have previously been evaluated and denied by a CFRC CO or the Comd CFRG are considered precedents. The CFRC CO can ask for the RPSO’s opinion before making a final decision;
d. Ensure that relevant notes have been written in the General Comments section (if applicable) and that the photos have been scanned;
e. Write his/her own evaluation in the general comments section (opinion, future actions if applicable);
f. Forward approval requests to the CFRC CO, in cases where there is serious doubt at to the application of the tattoo policy. The UPSO can ask the RPSO’s opinion before submitting the file to the CFRC CO;
g. If the applicant wants to appeal, the UPSO must send the approval request to the Comd CFRG, via the RPSO;
STEP 3
Review and recommendation of the RPSO. When a request is sent to the RPSO, via the UPSO, for the Comd CFRG’s consideration, the RPSO will conduct an analysis and make recommendations, taking into account the research conducted, the descriptions and meanings provided, including compensating factors, and will forward the request to the CFRG CWO
STEP 4
Review and recommendation of the CFRG CWO. As senior advisor to the Comd CFRG on matters of dress, the CFRG CWO can make a recommendation to the Comd CFRG.
STEP 5
Final and binding decision of the Comd CFRG.
**** NOTE: No further questions will be answered about the tattoo policy and this thread is going to be locked. The above information is accurate as of 14-Sep-2016 and may not be 100% accurate at any time past that date ****
