For enlisted personnel, the United States Marine Corps authorizes the wear of one service stripe for every four-year period of honorable service that is creditable toward retirement in any of the five branches of the Armed Forces of the United States (Marine Corps, Navy, Army, Air Force, and Coast Guard), as well as in the National Guard or any Reserve Component of those forces. Service in the Commissioned Corps of the U.S. Public Health Service and the U.S. National Geodetic Survey may also qualify toward service stripes.
With the exception of the SNCO Evening Dress uniform, service stripes are worn by enlisted personnel on the outer half of each sleeve of the
Blue Dress and Service (
male and
female) coats. Gold stripes on a scarlet background are worn on the Blue Dress coat, while green stripes on a scarlet background are worn on the Service coat.
Stripes are worn at a 30-degree angle to the bottom of the sleeve and their placement is determined using features found on each coat. On the Blue Dress coat, the stripe is positioned so that its lowest scarlet point meets the scarlet piping on the sleeve; on the Green Service coat, the bottom edge of the stripe is centered a half-inch above the point formed by the chevron-like stitching.