How many military members actually see combat?

My friend, I was an infantryman for 28 years, and in that 28, I was overseas for 12 years and 6 tours in combat. So in my generation, our infantry, medics, engineers, and scouts all saw more combat than any one person should see. But you are correct in the fact that not all people will see combat, as a matter of fact in the army alone only about 30% saw combat. I just retired 2 years ago. Now, that 30% is actual combat, not combat zones.

I also was a truck driver and there was contact every time we went out. And that was every night . IEDs and small arms fire. Over 8.000 miles over the most dangerous roads in Iraq. And that was the PA army reserves.

Infantry, medic, and/or truck driver never leaving base????? Really.
How many calls are there for a medic on the base???? Maybe if the base is overrun. And, truck driving just on the base? Who takes supplies to those INFANTRY in the field? Even on Rotational Training exercises, you won't see much 'base time'. The training is 'in the field'. If you really cannot comprehend what combat entails, maybe you need to do some reevaluation. I foresee a major shock heading your way.
I cannot speak for the motivation or thoughts of recruiters, but just think about it. Who do you think actually does the COMBAT?
True enough, that you the troops won't be doing a lot of sightseeing, and they will be attached to the base, but that's where the action starts.

I think this is a legit question because of the ignorance of a lot of people, especially with the recent wars in Iraq, Afghanistan, Syria. I was at Camp Victory in 2004 as a Sailor and the Navy doesn't see the 2-3 mortars a day for 6 months as enough combat to award a Combat Action ribbon. Even though I had shrapnel come through my hooch and a DOD employee was killed 50 feet away. I rarely left the Camp, but we recieved penetration attempts where Iraqi's were killed 100 meters away. My job wasn't to shoot a gun, so I didn't see "Combat" but I would define my experience as a combat deployment. I compare my time to the ships that had a missile go in the water a mile away from their ship. The whole crew received a CAR even if they were in the engine room, or ships laundry. The problem with the way the Military views awards is not standard and there is TOOOO much room for disparity. To validate my comment, look at how many soldiers receive a Commendation as an end of tour award and compare it to the awards Marines get.

Use common sense! Many infantry people have spent an entire career out of combat, others do not have that luxury. The ground element, those most likely to see firefights, are much smaller than the total supporting effort. Many careers are launched by supporting MOSs. I was a jet engine mechanic (gas turbine). I got out, went to college and was in GE gas turbines my entire career. I did not meet one single machine gunner or mortar man at GE. The tip of the spear has a unique and very important place but there are many others that get them there and keep them alive. You may want to explain that, just as in the Navy, the Air Force, Army and Marines are all team efforts of many different, essential jobs and getting shot at for a living is critical in ground operations but it is also very dangerous and is unnecessary in civilian life...………………… unless you live in Chicago, Baltimore etc.

What kind of crack are you smoking

Last time I checked the Main Supply Route were outside of bases and dominated by Transporters. In Iraq and Afghanistan the MSRs were the most dangerous area in the battle space. Recommend you stick with what you know and leave the warfighting to the men and women on the ground.

I agree with others remarks. Those three MOS careers don’t always leave the wire. I’ve seen them work more on the base in training or other positions. The Quartermaster/ Logistics MOS career fields are out a great deal. It depends on the theater they are in and what tastings those career fields are assigned.

20% are trigger pullers.

Did you mean "unless you are infantry/medic/truck driver you dont leave the base"?