The 11 most dangerous jobs in the US military

All jobs in the military carry real risks, but some jobs are much riskier than others. Here are 10 of the most dangerous:

1. Pararescue
Pararescue jumpers are basically the world's best ambulance service. They fly, climb, and march to battlefields, catastrophic weather areas, and disaster zones to save wounded and isolated people during firefights or other emergencies.

2. Special operations
While this is lumping a few separate jobs together, troops such as Navy SEALs, Army green berets, Air Force combat controllers, and others conduct particularly risky missions. They train allied forces, hunt enemy leaders, and go on direct action missions against the worst of America's adversaries. They get additional training and better equipment than other units, but the challenging nature of their mission results in a lot of casualties.

3. Explosive ordnance disposal
The bomb squad for the military, explosive ordnance disposal technicians used to spend the bulk of their time clearing minefields or dealing with dud munitions that didn't go off. Those missions were dangerous enough, but the rise of improvised explosive devices changed all that and increased the risk for these service members.