Quote Originally Posted by MattC86 View Post
I was recently at the Koblenz train station, and there were dozens of German soldiers, best as I could figure returning from reservist or conscript duty (do the Germans still have conscription?). . .they were in full uniform, but many had long hair, facial hair, piercings (not even just ears) and even coloured hair. I was waiting for a monocled Prussian in jackboots to come storming in and give them the whip, but it didn't happen.

I know reservists (an all countries) tend to look less stringently military than their active duty comrades, but these guys were still on duty and were sporting personal appearances that didn't just occur for the morning train ride home to their lives. As someone who doesn't particularly like seeing the uniform off post, seeing the uniform (even German) represented so was quite a shock to me.
The regulations are not very explicit, they merely ask for a "gepflegte" appearance. That's difficult to translate. Basically it means that the soldier shall care about how he looks.
colored hair - depends on Disziplinarvorgesetzter afaik (CO who's responsible for judging on minor offences, usually a captain)
tattoo - should be hidden afaik
facial hair - no problem if it's no 3-day-beard
long hair - allowed since 70's (we had a court judging on this, afterwards long-haired soldiers had to use a net under the helmet iirc)
I'm out of active duty since several years, though.
monocle officer - a stereotype that was never really representative
Our conscription is just nine months, but many extend it for some months with better pay.

I wonder why the British have apparently such prestige/reputation troubles.
That's certainly a terrible outlook for long-term recruiting especially of NCOs and officers! It might also affect the budget, which is defined in a democratic political process, after all.

We in Germany have a rather good relationship, the Germans have concluded peace with their own military sometime in the 90's. The left wing isn't any more like in the 70's/80's, not the least because many conditions have changed.
Our SecDefs were in the focus of critique (for really, really good reasons), not the troops themselves. We have about once per year a minor scandal like tasteless photos and about the KSK, that's it.