'Meticulously evaluate' young men enlisting with tattoos

Today, February 20, the 2019 military enlistment ceremony will be held in 43 provinces and cities including Hanoi, Hai Phong, Da Nang, Cao Bang, Bac Kan, Thai Nguyen, Kon Tum, Gia Lai, Dak Lak... The remaining localities will continue to hand over troops on February 21 and 22.

Colonel Nguyen Van Tan, Deputy Director of the Military Department, General Staff of the Vietnam People's Army, said that the 2019 military recruitment will be carried out in accordance with Circular 148 of the Ministry of National Defense. Accordingly, the Ministry requires localities to thoroughly reform the administrative procedures in the military recruitment process; apply information technology, grasp citizens' backgrounds; and streamline and speed up procedures and documents to minimize the need for multiple trips, which waste citizens' time and money.

To ensure the principles of democracy and transparency in military recruitment, the People's Committee at the commune level must direct the villages to conduct elections and propose citizens who are ready to join the army (the village level has the right to discuss conscription or postponement because they understand the circumstances of each family).

The list of citizens subject to temporary deferment or exemption from military service; the list of military service; and the results of health classification must be publicly posted at the headquarters of the People's Committee at the commune level and relevant organizations for a period of 20 days.

According to Circular 148, localities must carefully evaluate cases of tattoos and lettering to avoid missing soldiers who violate regulations on enlisting in the Army or take advantage of them to evade military service...

"Specifically, can the tattoo or the words be erased? Does it have content that opposes the regime, divides national unity, is horrifying, bizarre, provocative, or sexual?", Colonel Tan said.

He stated that tattoos and tattooed letters that are offensive, revealing, or reflect incorrectly on religion and beliefs, contrary to Vietnamese customs, culture, and people, lacking faith, negative, superstitious, or bearing symbols of foreign armed forces will absolutely not be selected for military service.

"On the contrary, the Military Service Councils at all levels must not let citizens take advantage of tattoos or tattooed words to evade military service; must do a good job of propaganda and education so that citizens do not get tattoos or tattooed words; or erase them themselves before examination and enlistment. Localities are determined to strictly handle cases of intentional violations according to the provisions of the law," he emphasized.

According to Colonel Tan, after joining the Army and completing 24 months of active military service; non-commissioned officers and soldiers can be considered for long-term service in the Army if they meet the following conditions: diplomas, certificates of military training, medical training during active service or have graduated from college or university before joining the army; professional profession suitable to the unit's mission requirements; job title requirements, organizational structure and political, ethical and health standards according to regulations of the Ministry of National Defense...

"There are many opinions that military service should be mandatory for all citizens, the time can be reduced to about 6 months to a year, but that is not enough time to train, educate military subjects, general tactics and techniques, not to mention complex specialized content for soldiers to master weapons and equipment," said Mr. Tan.

There is currently no data on young people joining the army nationwide, but in Hanoi this time there areabout 3,500 new recruits, of which1,300 young people have volunteered.

TThe rate of new recruits in Hanoi graduating from university, college, and vocational high school reached 32.4%;This figure is lower than 2018's 40.8%, and 2017's 52.2%.

To have enough soldiers to enlist in 2019, districts in Hanoi have screened more than 244,000 male citizens of military age, selected about 49,000 people to participate in the preliminary selection, from which more than 10,400 young people were selected for military service health examinations, and more than 7,000 people were eligible to enlist.

The criteria for tattoos and eyesight when selecting citizens for military service were previously stipulated in Circular 50 of the Ministry of National Defense - Public Security.

Accordingly, citizens are not selected for military service when their bodies "have tattoos or tattooed words that oppose the regime, divide the nation, are strange, bizarre, sexually provocative, or violent. Tattoos or tattooed words that are offensive in exposed areas, such as: Face, head, neck; from 1/2 of the upper arm down, from 1/3 of the lower thigh down. Tattoos or tattooed words that cover 1/2 of the back, chest, or abdomen or more".

The Ministry of National Defense affirmed that these tattoos are political and ethical standards. If the local military recruitment board allows citizens with tattoos like the above to join the army, it is "against regulations, offensive, and affects the image, etiquette and style of revolutionary soldiers".