The vast majority of people who deploy to a combat zone end up in no real danger during their tour -- do you agree or disagree?

Having operated on COPs for two deployments and FOBs for two others, I can say that the danger is "different." On a COP, the enemy danger is obvious and Soldiers have to deal with it on a daily basis. On a FOB, external danger is less likely, but the internal threat is significantly higher; however most personnel will get too remain oblivious to this danger, because friendly internal intelligence services are always at work ensuring servicemembers don't have to worry about getting killed in their sleep by a local or third country national they thought were their friends.

That is not at all to downplay the very clear danger and loss of life that the minority of forces face in remote combat locations. I'm just offering the difference between the perception of danger while deployed.

There's an old adage. "The safest place you can be is surrounded by a company of fellow Marines."

The thing with deployments is you are skirting the line between levels of threat. Think about how we carry our rifles depending on whether we are expecting combat or not. The Alert (pointed to the dirt) for imminent (Severe or Critical threat levels) all the way to the traditional carry for low or moderate levels.

It's not that any single member is in danger.... but collectively our combined risk pushes up way up the charts. Kind of like buying a really crappy lottery ticket. Quantitatively, the chances of "something" going bad is just ever present. We're working with firearms, explosives, fuel, vehicles, heat (weather)... all things things just exacerbate our overall danger level.

You mentioned this discussion was between you and a Navy cohort. Ask him how safe a ship is. Just think about that for a moment. Ships are floating office buildings which we launch airplanes off of. But we train constantly on them for when things go wrong. And that's in "peace" time.

So to answer your question, I generally never felt in real danger (I come from a different era though), however there was LOTS of dangerous things happening around me.

I've been to Chicago - there's dangerous tour. :/

I don't know about "vast majority," I think it depends on the location, and what kinds of operations are going on during a particular tour and when in the campaign it happened. But if your point is that there are many people who deploy who are not kicking down doors or conducting route clearance, or otherwise exposed regularly to direct enemy contact... then yes, that's probably true. However - any deployment has inherent risks, as does simply being in the military. And historically, most casualties are not "direct battle" wounds but rather DNBI - Disease & Non-Battle Injuries. FOBs & COBs do get attacked; and at the same time, people get hit by forklifts, or have vehicle accidents in difficult weather/environmental conditions - all manner of safety hazards. It would be interesting to see the %s on these in today's Post-911 conflicts.

Three deployments and hundreds of rocket/mortar attacks and I have never been within proximity of one. I consider myself safe haha

Personally, I factor in time of deployment as well. There was a massive difference between my 2003 deployment to Iraq and my 2006 deployment were night and day different. It also has to do with the unit you're in. In 2003, I was with the 101st Airborne Division as we took part in the initial invasion. FOBs and COBs were not even a thing. We set up camp where we needed to and each location had it's one type of danger. In 2006 I was with the 86th Signal Battalion and assigned to Tali Air Force Base. We had Burger King, Pizza Hut, showers and 3 hot meals a day. We had a few rockets launched towards us but the danger came more so from the inside. It came from the local Nationals working on base as well as bored Soldier's who would get complacent.

Does it really make a difference? The risk is always there and anyone who takes the oath, wears the uniform and deploys to a combat theater has my thanks and appreciation.

Your buddy has a point..... it takes 5-6 support & service support soldiers per patrol member.....

But, that support staff's MOS definition of fear, is far different than that of an Team Guy; who lives outside the wire......

So, who are we to judge the support staff's perception of how much danger they were in.......and this is a realization that comes with time, and the perspective of working with vets who were support, and others who were the tip of the spear.....

Some of us laughed and told jokes in the bunkers, during rocket & mortar attacks; while others, with less training, less experience and less resiliency were crying in the same bunkers.

Were any of us, in "danger"?

For the advisor teams who were out every day, we said no, because the enemy couldn't shoot for shit, and they forgot to arm the rockets. We were more nervous of a green on blue, than a lucky rocket shot.

To those support & service support soldiers, sailors and Airmen, to whom the FOB was a boat that they never left..... it was the scariest and most dangerous night of their life.

We are all different.....and our thresholds to trauma and fear, are different.

I would say it's matter boiling down to personal experience, fate and luck. When I was stationed in Iraq on Basra from 2010-2011, I was in relative safety....until the bad boys decided to lob rockets and mortars at us....A LOT. We got rocketed and mortared anywhere from once a week to twice a month. All just really depended on their schedule and where they aimed. We did have only one death of a Service Member from rocket attacks while I was there when a rocket hit his CHU...which was probably about 200 meters from mine. His time was up. Mine wasn't. So, in reality, the "being in danger" was all relative based on your particular mission and OPTEMPO.

The vast majority are support in the rear so .... yeah