SUN PRAIRIE, Wis. -- A Sun Prairie man can't believe the Marines won't let him back in because of his tattoos.

Video

WATCH: Once A Marine, Always A Marine? Should Marines Allow Him Back In?

Joseph Greathouse, 23, has five tattoos -- two on his forearms and three on his shoulders. He got them while serving in the Corps.

Greathouse joined the Marine Corps when he was 19 and served his full four-year contract, including four months in Kuwait and Iraq, and then got out in February. After taking a month off, the husband and father of two is fighting to get back in and leave his construction job and civilian life behind.

Top-level commanders rejected his application, citing his tattoos.

"I enjoy the miltary," Greathouse said. "I didn't think I liked it as much until I got out, and I realized military life's nice."

A Marine tattoo policy tightened up last year about "good order and discipline." Officials look at tattoo content, location and number, which allows no more than five.

IRAQ WAR Story: Key Dates In The Iraq War Story: Crisis Plagues Iraq As U.S. Troops Depart Link: Iraq War Casualties Survey: Agree With Pullout Of Forces?

Greathouse told News 3 he desperately wants to rejoin the Marines, but he won't remove his tattoos. He said the rule makes no sense.

"(Tattoos are) almost promoted by the military -- you know, you go outside the base, and there's seven or eight tattoo parlors out there," he said. "I enjoy them, and they're kind of the one thing that you can have in the military that can bring out your personality."

The stricter policy didn't exist when Greathouse first enlisted, and it doesn't affect Marines who continue service automatically either -- only new recruits. The highly decorated Marine with a box full of citations and medals is considered a new recruit because he technically left the Corp for about a month before re-upping.

"I have a re-enlistment code of Alpha, which is the best re-enlisment code you can get," he said.

Greathouse's tattoos honor friends, family and the military. Some are for fun, but none he says are not a reason to stop him from continued service.

"I know a lot of people that do not want to be in the military whatsoever, let alone be over in Iraq," he said. "I'm full well and willing to go over there and they're telling me no."

Greathouse's lower-level recruiters backed him, forwarding a tattoo waiver and recommending approval, adding Greathouse "is physically and mentally fit to return and "was an exemplary Marine while on active duty."

"They say, 'Once a Marine, always a Marine,' and I'd like to keep that factor and right now -- they're pushing me a way," he said. "It's mindboggling."

He's appealing the ruling.