Similar to the Navy and Coast Guard, the Marine Corps authorizes its enlisted personnel to wear a service stripe for each four-year period of cumulative service in a branch of combination of branches of our country’s uniformed services or in a Reserve component of one of five Armed Forces of the United States.
Although the four years does not have to be continuous, Reservists accrue their cumulative time of service in one-year increments, i.e., they receive a year’s credit toward the stripe for each year in which they compile at least 50 retirement points. An enlisted Marine would need twenty-four to twenty-seven years of service to be authorized to wear this six-stripe set.
Service stripes are worn on both sleeves of Enlisted Dress and Service coats (except the SNCO Evening Dress coat), with the color of the stripe dependent on the uniform—red stripes on Blue Dress coats, green stripes on Service coats. This differs from the system of service stripes in the Navy and Coast Guard, where color reflects standards of conduct (Navy) or pay grade (Coast Guard).
Regardless of uniform, Marine Corps service stripes are always worn at a 30-degree angle in relation to the bottom of the sleeve. Gold stripes with red border are placed on the sleeve of the Blue Dress coat so the lowest scarlet corner meets the point made by the piping on the sleeve cuff. Green stripes are positioned so the bottom scarlet edge is centered a half-inch above the cuff point.
Subsequent stripes are placed parallel to the previous stripe, with 1-8th inch of space between stripes.
Related Items:
- USMC Blue Dress Coat (Male)
- USMC Blue Dress Coat (Female)*
- USMC Service Coat (Male)
- USMC Service Coat (Female)
* New version with Mandarin collar