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I have 3 tattoos, my career recruiter saw two of them and said they would be fine since they didn't show in chucks. But I have a 3rd he did not see on my ribs which is arabic writing and it means infidel, (got it on impulse with my buddies, stupid I know) even though this tattoo does not show outside of PT gear, could this tattoo potentially hold me back from getting a B billet as MSG duty?
Honestly I am not sure what the limit is for tattoos, never had any, never cared.
But regardless there is no point on trying to hide this from you career (planner?) If you do try to hide it and you go to the school house with out them knowing about the third tattoo, its just a matter of time until they catch you. The instructors look for anything they can find to give them a reason to drop Marines, so dont give them the opportunity to do so.
Best to find out right now and inform your career planner, I know since last year the classes have been getting smaller so I do not know if they been more leniant with Marines over things such as tattoos in order to get more Marines to go to the school house.
The school has two missions; to train you and to screen you. The two traits most screened for are integrity and maturity. There are two chains of command on the program; the USMC and the Department of State (DOS). So, DOS has a part in the screening process too. The USMC may say you're good to go but DOS says no and vice versa (just one of many reasons for the high attrition rate).
There should be a checklist (from the Marine Corps Order or ALMAR) your career planner can use. If there is nothing on the checklist then you should be fine. Because the attrition rate is so high already, they try their best to keep Marines from getting orders to the school who aren't qualified to begin with (they'll just be sent back to their command and the command will get a nasty message from HQMC for improper screening; and the career planner will probably get fired).
My personal opinion is as long as the tatts cannot be seen while in uniform there should be no issue. However, if you do make it through school, it would be prudent to not get assigned to a Muslim country just to be on the safe side knowing how sensitive they are with such things. Since the MCESG makes post assignments, they would need to know obviously.
Having graduated from MSG school twice (SNCO honor grad second time), been the MSG School Operations Chief, and served a short time on the MSG screening team, I can attest to the fact the school has one of the highest attrition rates in the USMC (for various reasons). I know what it's like to be short-staffed out on post (both as a watchstander and a Detachment Commander). All the instructors at MSG school are former Detachment Commanders who also know. With that in mind, I would say the instructors look for reasons NOT to drop students. Many times, the student leaves them no choice (as in doing something stupid, not passing the special background investigation, failing academically, etc.). Or, DOS may find a reason to drop them. Believe it or not, there are one-or-two every class who get married while on leave eventhough it says right on the checklist you cannot be married (those get sent right back to where they came from with the potential for administrative action since they just cost the USMC a bunch of money for nothing).
Your career planner (not you) should be able to call/e-mail the school directly if they feel the checklist does not address your situation. When I was the Ops Chief, I got calls every day. We felt it was better to have their command deal with issues BEFORE getting to school so we wouldn't have to deal with them during the class training schedule.
Good luck.