How many military members actually see combat?

I would just be honest with them. If you don't know about that particular job then just research it for them or point them in the direction they would find the answer. There's a a lot of jobs out there but not too many put you directly in harms way although you might receive indirect or an occasional pop shot.

I'm an AF Crew chief on the C-130J-30, and I left the base every damn mission that my plane did....low level air drops, resupply, aeromed evac, etc, etc.....and even I saw combat more than once (3 times on the ground for more than 10 minutes.....shot at many times in flight at low level) when the enemy tried to kill us on approach/takeoff, or on the ground, where we had to fire back for as long as we could before jumping back on board and getting the fuck outta dodge. Sure they were short....but combat is combat. it all just depends on the specific jobs. I was not really ever supposed to see ground combat....but I did. Patched alot of holes in my bird.....good thing it's armored all to hell, and the enemy never brought rpg's....lucky.

I'm a Corpsman with 2nd Mar Div and I saw combat. Tell em to be a doc and wait for the next war.

In my first tour I was a Gunner on a gun truck and we escorted LOGPACs up and down Hwy 1 in Iraq, so we were in some kind of TIC pretty consistent, but it was not sustained combat for the most part, we had a LOT of less that combat hungry vehicles in our convoy and the people in the other FOBs were waiting for them. It was mentioned how tempting a target they were though, because we had to run White light so we were seen for miles in the desert they had time to sit there, go get a Falaful, have a drink of Soda and then blow us up and initiate the complex ambush. My second tour we had a small sector but we were a small group correspondingly and therefore our TICs there were EFPs (I got my TBI from that tour). So I agree that you have to define not seeing combat or seeing combat. While we were sitting on the FOB or a JSS we were rocketed, mortared, took VBIEDs, etc...so TECHNICALLY that is seeing combat. Of course being combat arms, I was only interested in the games that got me into them, those TICs that I got to play in. However there were many times that the lead truck would take some contact, they would pass it off to us and there was no one shooting at us, then there were times that I was further back, the first couple trucks took contact, then nothing, then as we went by, an RPG would sail over my head. So TECHNICALLY we were in combat, but not like in my second tour where my 19K self and my crew were battle drill 6ing a house because while we were pulling security on a vehicle that had been blown up and we got called for QRF. So it is a matter of perspective...its not all Spec Teams cool guy action combat. But technically these people can be in combat either wanting to be or not.

Ok I see where you meant to say only those 3 do. Either way it's false. There are a ton of jobs that don't really leave the wire however, much more than just those three do. Get a list of jobs from the Army recruiter and look at it logically or ask them to highlight the jobs that do. That is if you have a good working relationship with that office which I know is difficult since it is the competition.

From what I have seen, in the sort of war we are in now, any MOS that is deployed has a chance of seeing combat and being hurt or killed. The only difference is that some military personnel have a higher chance of seeing combat then others.

PO1 Seth Crotser, what are you trying to "sell" with that statement? If they are looking for relative "safety" during a time of protracted ground combat, then saying that the they WILL face combat works in your favor as a Navy recruiter.

I'm not a recruiter and never have served as one, but whenever people ask my advice as to what service they should go into, I always ask first "what are you looking to do while in the military?" That question usually drives which service best suites their goals. If they want to want to play in the woods and shoot guns, I usually direct them to the Army or Marines. If they want to play with hi-tech gear in relative comfort, I usually tell them Air Force or Navy.

Well, If you had told me that a rigger would end up in a fire fight I would have told you now way, then it happened to me. Operation Just cause Panama. I think the answer is it depends on the unit your in and what your mission is and where you are at. Look what happen to Jessica Lynch and her unit when they were moving in to Iraq. Each company is responsible for its own security so during a movement anything can happen.

Not true but kinda. Every MOS has the potential to go outside of the wire. If you don't fly to the FOB you are going to be stationed on you will drive. Choosing a job that is just like a civilian job but in cammo will for the most part reduce your exposure to bad guys. But IDF does not descriminate. The fact is that any of your applicants are more likely to die in a car wreck than they are to die in combat.

My first thought on this...

You should not repeat or communicate things to potential recruits that you are not sure are accurate. It shoots your credibility in the foot and furthers the stereotype of the "lying recruiter".

I do applaud you for seeking to get your facts strait on the matter, though.

Just out of curiosity, have you tried to Google the statistics that stipulate the percentage of the current armed forces that see combat? I haven't done it myself, just thought I'd ask.