Would you look down on someone who hasn't deployed?

When I went to 11B BNCOC put on by the Washington National Guard RTI, in 2007 everyone of the students had at least on combat tour. Not 1 single instructor did. yes we all looked down on those instructors.

Yes, I was a 22 yr old E-6 in combat while the Army couldn't get senior NCOs in Europe to go to Vietnam. It was called "Homesteading" while youngsters like me were doing the soldiering and meeting the guy you replaced back in country. Later they stopped promotions except in the war zone.

Then again when they did get there all they did was complain about their retirement and occupy a slot a soldier could have filled.
(nothing personal)

If you feel the need to deploy, there's the DAMPS-A program that will find you a slot somewhere in the CZ. I did 9.5 years Active Army, '76-'86, never got deployed because there weren't any wars going on. I came back into the Reserves from '05-'15 and volunteered to go to Afghanistan for a year. Nothing quite like getting shot at to make you understand certain truths.

Hmm, it depends on the era. If they served in the Army from 2001-2012(ish), weren't already high senior ranking, and hadn't managed to accidentally fall into a deployment, then maybe. Deployments were plentiful during that time; so much to the point where specific issues were raised to the SMA to flush out deployment dodgers from homesteading in TRADOC and non-deployable units past the normal rotation time.

Don't get me wrong, I'm NOT saying everyone who hadn't deployed was a deployment dodger; there are too many circumstances the individual Soldier can't control. However, homesteading in order to avoid deployable units, was absolutely an exploitable issue at that time; meanwhile those in the "deployable" force were getting hit with constant deployments, creating some disdain toward "slick sleeve" Soldiers from the same era.

Nowadays when I see a slick sleeve, I just remember that I'm "Army Old", and the overall deployment optempo is much different, on top of the constant cycle of new Soldier's filtering through.

It depends in the circumstances. What's your MOS and where HAVE you been serving. It's none of my business where you've been or what you've done - but apparently it's eating at YOU. And you're the one who has to look in the mirror each day.

I know a lot of guys who have served honorably but have never heard a shot fired in anger through no fault of their own. When I first came in it was the tail-end of Vietnam - all our guys were home and I never went. I felt as though my service was somehow not as good as those who went. Buddies who had been would tell me I hadn't missed a thing. When I got my "turn" to go to a combat zone I realized they were right - I hadn't really missed a thing.

If you've been doing the job and haven't been actively avoiding combat I guess the Army has you in a place it thinks is more valuable to the overall effort. No shame. But if you've been dodging... but I get the feeling that's not the case.

I ran into plenty of deployment dodgers in a short 8 years. I have a special level of disdain for someone who goes far and wide out of their way to avoid deploying.

No.

I wouldn't be ashamed of your circumstances and certainly don't look down on you. And I will say, if you want to deploy there are potential options (have you looked at the Guard/Reserve website Tour-of-Duty to look for missions?). So, for the most part... My answer to your question is: No. Especially those new 2LT-CPT and PVT-SPC who haven't even been in that long. I myself have deployed four times in 18 years and been on standby for deployments twice that (and that is not even counting the numerous state missions I have been activated on), and I am in the National Guard! That being said, I do find it odd when I see senior officers/NCOs (O5's and above and E8's and above) who have slick-sleeves in this day-in-age. I'd like to say I don't judge them because you never know what someone's circumstances are, however, I do find myself wondering how someone who has been in for over 12 years somehow has not deployed. To me, unless there are some rare circumstances (which is possible), it is very hard--even in the guard--to avoid a deployment for that amount of time without actively trying to... But again, you never know what a person's individual circumstances are...