Top half of the cover for the 2024 Tattoo: Armed Forces Magazine (Stripes Staff)

Phil Eskridge is a “career military spouse” of 16 years who, one day, was surprised when he saw himself on the cover of a magazine in the BX. But I am jumping ahead a little bit.

For the past four years, Stars and Stripes Europe has published the annual “Tattoo: Armed Forces” magazine. This magazine features information about European tattoo conventions and updated military regulations about tattoos as well as articles about tattoo styles, culture and more. Most importantly, in my opinion, the magazine showcases the tattoos of service members and DOD ID holders stationed or deployed in Europe and the Middle East.

Eskridge sitting looking away from the camera to the right and smiling with his hand on his chin (Germán Rodriguez)

We use our engagement team, social media and word of mouth to recruit the people who appear in the magazine. It features many “self-submitted” photos from the community; however, a select dozen or so people are chosen to model in a photo shoot with a professional photographer.

Eskridge, who was simply relaxing one night at a local bar in the Kaiserslautern Military Community (KMC) in Germany, just happened to be approached by our photographer who asked if he’d be interested in doing a photo shoot for the magazine. Eskridge was hesitant at first; he had never done something like this before, but ultimately decided to try it as a personal challenge.

They did the shoot at Eskridge’s favorite local pub, the Blarney Stone in Landstuhl. He brought his guitar to include in the shoot and, thankfully, got over his nerves. Not only did he have a good time, but also, as he later learned, he did a great job as a model.

 As he was strolling in the KMCC BX one day, he was surprised to see that one of his photos was selected for the cover of the 2024 Armed Forces: Tattoo magazine. He grabbed 10 copies off the shelf and brought them over to the coffee shop he worked at and started flipping through the magazine.

Cover for the 2024 Tattoo: Armed Forces Magazine (Stripes Staff)

Since appearing on the “Tattoo” magazine cover, Phil has not modeled for anything else, but he did state in our interview that he “plays with the idea” and would love to do some additional modeling in the future.

When asked if he had any advice for anyone thinking about doing a “Tattoo” photo shoot, he advised, “Just push past your anxiety…. Challenge yourself. Accept your own challenge and just let go and do it. I think it’s a lot of fun.”

Eskridge side profile looking down and playing his guitar (Germán Rodriguez)

Watch the video to learn more about Phil’s photoshoot experience as well as his favorite Stars and Stripes magazines (spoiler alert: It’s not just about tattoos). And if you want to expand your horizons and perhaps appear in the 2025 “Tattoo: Armed Forces” magazine, submit your photos here.