| has gloss | eng: A service stripe, commonly called a hash mark, is a decoration of the United States military which is presented to enlisted members of the U.S. military to denote length of service. The United States Army awards each stripe for three years service, while the United States Navy, United States Marine Corps, and United States Coast Guard award each stripe for four years of duty. The concept of a service stripe dates back to the American Civil War where sleeve stripes denoted a successful completion of a standard enlistment, although they had also been used in Napoleon's army. These stripes are also used on the sleeves of the full dress uniform worn by cadets of the United States Military Academy at West Point, which denote the number of years a cadet has been at the academy. |
