How many military members actually see combat?

As a Recruiter it is a must that you factually understand the truths about your brothers from the other forces. As A recruiter for the Army 96-99. I made it my mission to make sure I could factually and truthfully answer question from prospective recruits about the other services. I am not trying to insult you but you seriously need to learn about other services. The question you have posed indicates that you are seriously lacking in this much needed tool to be a successful recruiter. Most soldiers and Marines will be required to venture outside the confines of the base. Yes, Truck drivers, medics, Intel, aviation, engineers will be required to get dirty. One last tip. Never lie to a prospect it always comes back to hurt you. Always maintain your honor. The chance of getting one to enlist for you is not worth giving up your honor. Once he/she finds out you liked to them the word spreads.

Crotser, not everyone goes into combat. That is true. Not every medic gets assigned to a guarded hospital unit. We have medics , many medics who have gone into combat. And then we have our down time. Invite your recruits to talk to a combat medic from the Army that been in combat so they can make an informed decision. I only speak for combat medics,as I was one.

Reindeer13

Wrong. Convoys are run by truckers and it’s a dangerous job. There are medics in the field with their troops. The troops love them, the enemy looks for them. The infantry and armor lead the way. I was signal in the 60’s. A nice safe MOS until the radio I was carrying took a round while in the jungle. On our compound worked out of a old conix trailer. It took mortar rounds 3 times that year. But signal is safe. Cooks, clerks or mechanics, if on an outpost are at risk.

Everyone in the military is expected to fight when the time comes. The only exception I can think of are Chaplains

First gulf war repaired line of sight and sat com systems out of Ft Huachuca. Kinda hard to hide 20 foot dishes. Only left the compound to fix something never would have been put in a situation, we wouldn’t go. In Iraq as an Air Force medical tech never left Balad. Any weapons we had were locked up. As we were trained as card carrying non combatants.

Who do you think gets hit with IEDs? That's right truck driver's oh and those are mechanics in that wrecker following your convoys. You don't have to be a door kicker to see combat

Commo,supply, unit administrative, cooks all of them leave the wire as it were along with your list. So all have potential to see combat but some will not.

My dad was a career navy guy. He was a CPO when I joined the army. Actually I started with the navy - took the ASVAB and all of that. I wanted to be a crypto tech, but the navy recruiter told me it wasn't likely with the slots open for the navy, but he had talked to the army recruiter and thought it would be very likely I could get a slit. He walked me down the hall and introduced me. Both of them were outstanding recruiters who were looking out for the best interest of the nation and recruits. Be like them. Work with the other recruiters. Ultimately I think it would work out best for everyone involved.

You are probably statistically correct that infantry, medics, and drivers come under fire the most. But in today's warfare EVERYONE has to be ready all the time. I was a 98G cryptologic linguist specializing in Russian and Serbian. Somehow I wound up in Iraq in 03-04 and left the wire somewhat regularly. Never took fire though.

I don't know where they got their sources, but that's the biggest load I've ever heard. In OIF III '05, our truck company was pulling tankers anywhere and everywhere off of Tampa. We'd be gone from base camp for 2-3 weeks at a time taking pot shots and we got hit by IED's on the regular. We probably saw more action than the grunts did by sheer exposure outside the wire.