Do you think someone who has never been in a combat has the right to call themselves a veteran?

I served but was never called into combat, I did go in "theater" as a contractor 2005 thru 2012. I Saw a LOT of enemy fire during tenure. I even wrote statements that helped get "MY" soldiers medals & C.A.B.'s. (I felt as though many contractors should have gotten recognition for combat service.) Thank you for supporting the NON-combat vets, like myself, and Thank you all for your service. I was, internally, a little ashamed I did not do time during "conflict" til I read many of your responses!

Anyone that served honorably in any branch of our military during peace or ear time has earned the title 'veteran.' As individuals, we do not decide which init goes where or when. Our duty is to be ready when we do get the call. We need to train, prepare, and hold ourselves in a high state of readiness . No matter what service or job specialty. Some may hold more prestige and honors becausr they were more decisively engaged than others. Not every man or woman can be the point on SEAL Team 6. Everyone has their role to play, whether as a helicopter mechanic, truck driver, intel specialist, PJ, or nuclear reactor technician. Everyone contributes to the team victory. As long as a service member does their duty to the best of their abilities and supports their team mates, they should be proud of their service. Not getting shot at, mortared, or bombed doesn't make you any less a veteran.....those bullets could just have easily been directed at someone else. The important thing is that you took the oath, trained, and were ready to go into harm's way when you're country needed you. Be proud of your service!

At it's most basic, the definition of the two have little in common. Veteran describes a person who participates. Combat describes an action one ensues. To make the statement that only those who have served in combat theater qualify as veterans is sadly misleading. Every person who has raised their right hand and took an oath to protect this country - regardless of wartime or peacetime - has offered themselves and their strengths for their country. Segregating one from the other accomplishes nothing, but making one the focus for the other is misguided.
I hope we think through where we want to end up before we begin to fire up the 'us' versus 'them' statements.

This question is absurd in the least. Of course they have a right to be called a veteran. I took an Oath of Enlistment that 99% can never say. I raised my hand as a Navy Hospital Corpsman to lay my life on the life if need be. Even though some people only provide support service (i.e. Pharmacy like myself), they are still VITAL to the mission.

As a certified Service Officer I understand your internal struggle with this question. I have heard it countless times, almost boils down to "the struggle question "Am I worthy." I am of the opinion "everyone is needed"everyone is worthy Volunteering or drafted in military service every branch, era,as well as their families ". Those of us who took the oaths to defend honor, approach life's challenges with a code-of-conduct, stepping lively are indeed Veterans as I look around my community. The sole surviving son, who by law is not allowed a combat MOS still comes to the oath -comes home; transitions into working for a non-profit as a college student, then works with brats who then become Knights. Esprit de corp lives in each community, it is the spirit of can-do in a timeline when most citizens are confused, lost or confused. In pops a vet, any vet and a energy of smart, seems to translate. Same hold with the combat veteran..Humble, worldly and always ready to pick up the guid-on and find a purpose, a mission a duty right in their city. You fixed helo's for the crew I'm sure thank you. You did your job, you did it well. And to have the honor to be in the 101st. Did you know the 101s abn assn was their when I petition for a homeless vet...they came through with the needed tools so I could advocate for a brother veteran..no one asked for his MOS, ribbon inventory..just lets give him a hand up out of the city's foxholes. Today five years later that once homeless vet...is today a firefighter. Salutes for a question that will always be asked, era to era, weather a 4 year or career timeline. I think, feel, if you served you earned the right to say yes I am a Veteran, how can I be of service to you tomorrow. Esprit de corp knows no MOS, or rate or job specifics..it simply, humbly knows each other in a full room of strangers. salutes, jim.

Yes you do, and this is why. We serve at the "Good of the Service" We make no decisions about where we serve, and its sometimes little more than dumb luck where we end up. My cousin and my husband had the same exact MOS at the same time. When Desert Storm came calling, My husband was one of the first people to be notified he'd be going, and he was gone in a matter of a week or two. My cousin, the same exact MOS, at the same exact time, in the same unit, was given orders to the drill field.
As military members we have no power over where we are sent. Sometimes our "Manner of Service" makes it obvious that we will end up in one place or another, but most of those fields were closed off to Women, and many still are. Does this mean that women are not really Vets? If you believe that, then please step forward and allow me to tell you about my grandmother, who was a telegrapher in WWI in a Marine Uniform. Let me tell you about my cousin who was a WAASP Pilot in WWII, or my mother who was a WAVE in WWII.
I know for a fact that each one of them would have had no problem taking up a weapon if called to do so. There often seems to be no reason why this person is chosen over that, leaving one to stand by and wonder if they were very lucky, or twice damned, because there is always someone in every crowd who will sneer that those of us who were not chosen to go, didn't really earn the respect of those who did.

I very much support the military. You guys deserve the best. I unfortunately did not have a good chance of enlisting, since I graduated in 1975, and the military was unloading tons of guys after Vietnan.
My only peev is the younger guys I work with who were in the military for only 4 years and were in the states the whole time. Some did hvac, or other jobs . All I hear from them is we deserve more. None of them were injured, or were sent overseas for any stay in Afganistan or Iraq. I know that you don't get to choose your job, but I get tired of the ones which were not in danger wanting more.
I have an nephew in Black ops, and I have heard from him how his best friend was killed beside him during an event. That is hard, and I support all of you working in any overseas area, as well as in states.

Yes. A "veteran" is any person who took the oath of enlistment (officer or enlisted) and honorably served in the US Armed Forces. A "combat veteran" is one who actual served in a combat environment. I'm sure there are also many opinions as to the definition of "combat environment" that will elicit many different definitions depending on a person's actual experience and job within the military.

I see your point. I distinguish myself as a combat veteran because I have been in combat as a combat MOS 11B. I volunteered for this position when I went from blue to green. I don't hold myself at a higher level than any other veteran, I just know that the Infantry was the place for me. Now if a fellow veteran says they are a combat veteran, I will like to hear how they can justify that. I understand that a lot of soft mos's are mortared and attacked, but that is not the same as hunting or "move until contact".

What a guy!!! This post is why you never saw/ never will see E-5 GUY