# Army uniform - stripes on forearm **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [February 5, 2006, 3:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/army-uniform-stripes-on-forearm/343068 "2006-02-05T03:57:59Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Race\_Bannon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/5f8ce5/32.png) [@Race\_Bannon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Race_Bannon)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2006, 3:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/army-uniform-stripes-on-forearm/343068/1 "2006-02-05T03:57:59Z")
On a US Army uniform, what do the stripes on the forearm represent? I’m pretty sure it has to do with serving in a combat zone. What does each stripe represent? Is there any limit to the number a soldier can get? Is there an offical name for these stripes? I just took my kid to a Jr. ROTC ball, and saw a 1st sergeant in dress blues with both sleves covered in stripes up to the elbow. ---
**Author:** ![friedo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/8edcca/32.png) [@friedo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/friedo)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2006, 4:02am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/army-uniform-stripes-on-forearm/343068/2 "2006-02-05T04:02:20Z")
Stripes on the arm are an indication of an enlisted person’s rank. [Here is a list](http://www.defenselink.mil/specials/insignias/enlisted.html) of the enlisted insignia for each branch. If the person in question had a ton of stripes up and down, he was probably Master Sergeant or Sergeant Major. ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2006, 4:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/army-uniform-stripes-on-forearm/343068/3 "2006-02-05T04:03:33Z")
The diagonal stripes on the left sleeve are for every 3 years of service. The horizontal stripes on the right sleeve are for each 6 months in a combat zone. ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2006, 4:06am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/army-uniform-stripes-on-forearm/343068/4 "2006-02-05T04:06:05Z")
> [@friedo](#): > > Stripes on the arm are an indication of an enlisted person’s rank. [Here is a list](http://www.defenselink.mil/specials/insignias/enlisted.html) of the enlisted insignia for each branch. If the person in question had a ton of stripes up and down, he was probably Master Sergeant or Sergeant Major. He means the service stripes on the bottom sleeve of the green class A uniform. On the dress blue uniform the service stripe goes all around each sleeve. There are no combat hash marks on the dress blue uniform. Each stripe is for 3 years service. This is for the enlisted uniform only. ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2006, 4:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/army-uniform-stripes-on-forearm/343068/5 "2006-02-05T04:08:43Z")
> [@friedo](#): > > Stripes on the arm are an indication of an enlisted person’s rank. [Here is a list](http://www.defenselink.mil/specials/insignias/enlisted.html) of the enlisted insignia for each branch. If the person in question had a ton of stripes up and down, he was probably Master Sergeant or Sergeant Major. He means the service stripes on the bottom sleeve of the green class A uniform. On the dress blue uniform the service stripe goes all around each sleeve. There are no combat hash marks on the dress blue uniform. Each stripe is for 3 years service. This is for the enlisted uniform only. ---
**Author:** ![Amp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Amp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amp)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2006, 4:11am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/army-uniform-stripes-on-forearm/343068/6 "2006-02-05T04:11:14Z")
I don’t think he is talking about rank. He is talking about the service stripes. You get one for every three years of active military service. ---
**Author:** ![Amp](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/6a8cbe/32.png) [@Amp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Amp)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2006, 4:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/army-uniform-stripes-on-forearm/343068/7 "2006-02-05T04:12:25Z")
Damnit **Loach**. ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2006, 4:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/army-uniform-stripes-on-forearm/343068/8 "2006-02-05T04:12:58Z")
My answer stands but I reread the OP and noticed he meant only the dress blue uniform. As I said on that one each stripe on the sleeve is for 3 years service. The only limit is for manditory retirement age (60). Generally you don’t see any more than ten which would put it up to the elbow. Officers don’t wear servic stripes. ---
**Author:** ![Loach](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/loach/32/350_2.png) [@Loach](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Loach)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2006, 4:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/army-uniform-stripes-on-forearm/343068/9 "2006-02-05T04:14:12Z")
> [@Amp](#): > > Damnit **Loach**. You’re welcome 😉 ---
**Author:** ![friedo](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/8edcca/32.png) [@friedo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/friedo)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2006, 4:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/army-uniform-stripes-on-forearm/343068/10 "2006-02-05T04:18:18Z")
> [@Loach](#): > > He means the service stripes… Oh, _those_ stripes. OK, then. 🙂 ---
**Author:** ![cerberus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/71e660/32.png) [@cerberus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cerberus)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2006, 6:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/army-uniform-stripes-on-forearm/343068/11 "2006-02-05T06:45:02Z")
The proper term for the “rank stripes” on the upper portion of the uniform sleeves are _chevrons_. The stripes near the bottom of the sleeves are duration-of-service stripes. ---
**Author:** ![Reindeer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/9dc877/32.png) [@Reindeer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Reindeer)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2006, 9:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/army-uniform-stripes-on-forearm/343068/12 "2006-02-05T09:28:38Z")
I believe the slang term for these are called hatch marks, but that might just be for us Marines. ---
**Author:** ![cerberus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/71e660/32.png) [@cerberus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cerberus)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2006, 9:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/army-uniform-stripes-on-forearm/343068/13 "2006-02-05T09:52:08Z")
hash or hatch? ---
**Author:** ![crowmanyclouds](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crowmanyclouds/32/19884_2.png) [@crowmanyclouds](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/crowmanyclouds)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2006, 10:01am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/army-uniform-stripes-on-forearm/343068/14 "2006-02-05T10:01:25Z")
[A Service stripe, commonly called a hash mark.](http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Service_stripe) ---
**Author:** ![SSG\_Schwartz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e9a140/32.png) [@SSG\_Schwartz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SSG_Schwartz)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2006, 11:47am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/army-uniform-stripes-on-forearm/343068/15 "2006-02-05T11:47:13Z")
> [@Loach](#): > > My answer stands but I reread the OP and noticed he meant only the dress blue uniform. As I said on that one each stripe on the sleeve is for 3 years service. The only limit is for manditory retirement age (60). Generally you don’t see any more than ten which would put it up to the elbow. Officers don’t wear servic stripes. There is no manditory retirement age in the US Army. There are Retention Control Points (RCP’s). A person cannot remain in the Army beyond an RCP without achieving a higher rank, at which time there is a new RCP. An Army soldier can retire after 20 years of Active Duty. Guard and Reserve can retire after 20 also, but cannot draw retirement until he/she reaches 60 years of age. National Guard and reserve can generally serve until that time. I am not terribly clear about the RCP’s for them however. Combat stripes, or _hash_ marks are earned for every six calendar months spent in a combat zone. Sgt Schwartz ---
**Author:** ![Paul\_in\_Qatar](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/ccd318/32.png) [@Paul\_in\_Qatar](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Paul_in_Qatar)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2006, 11:49am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/army-uniform-stripes-on-forearm/343068/16 "2006-02-05T11:49:24Z")
In old photos you will see a third kind of Hash Mark. Now we have the slanted ones (for each year of service) the straight ones (for each six months in a combat area), in the WWI era we had chevrons for combat wounds. Although the Purple Hear was established by George Washington, it went out of use for a long, long time. Modern soldiers get a PH in lieu of the wound chevron. Nobody on active duty today wears a wound chevron. ---
**Author:** ![Scruloose](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e68b1a/32.png) [@Scruloose](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Scruloose)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2006, 3:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/army-uniform-stripes-on-forearm/343068/17 "2006-02-05T15:46:31Z")
I’ve heard them referred to as ‘lifer stripes’. ---
**Author:** ![cerberus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/71e660/32.png) [@cerberus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cerberus)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2006, 8:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/army-uniform-stripes-on-forearm/343068/18 "2006-02-05T20:37:03Z")
There are also foreign service stripes, the compact rectangular ones, but only the Army uses them. ---
**Author:** ![AskNott](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/asknott/32/5790_2.png) [@AskNott](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AskNott)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2006, 8:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/army-uniform-stripes-on-forearm/343068/19 "2006-02-05T20:40:22Z")
Flipping around the channels one night, I saw a few minutes of _Good Morning, Vietnam_ with Robin Williams as Kronauer. A bad-ass sergeant stormed into the studio to give Kronauer a hard time. He leaned in and pointed to his chevrons, “Take a look here, soldier. Three up, three down. You know what that means?” Kronauer: “The inning is over?” ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [February 5, 2006, 8:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/army-uniform-stripes-on-forearm/343068/20 "2006-02-05T20:48:46Z")
Hash marks on a Navy uniform are for every four years’ service, not three. The stripes are red in color unless you have an unblemished record, in which case they become gold after twelve years. After four years of ‘good conduct’, a Navy enlisted person also is issued a Good Conduct ribbon. Each successive award is represented by adding a bronze-colored star to the ribbon. After 20 years, a silver star replaces all the bronze stars, signifying five awards. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/army-uniform-stripes-on-forearm/343068.md?page=2)