Combat Duty vs Non Combat Duty

No. You should feel lucky never having to have left your family and miss a year of your kids' lives. I am envious.

 

Ive been Air force for 4 years and deployed to the middle east twice. When I say I have been deployed to the middle east I was deployed to UAE a noncombat tour zone doing "combat support efforts" for OEF and OIF, and joint task force horn of africa. Even if I hadnt deployed I coinsider my contribution and everyone elses in the combat services the most important contribution one can ever make. My younger brother Gunnar Zwilling also lost his life in Afganistan last year in the battle of Wanat. I will never forget the things he sacrificed to just be able to serve our country. I Hope that anyone who takes the oath of enlistment should realize how important it is and how much you mean to everyone who cannot make this choice. Thanks for hearing me out.

 

Hey mrgoody86, a salute out to your brother as well as your family. And in relation to this topic I voted no. For instance the Air Force and Army medics at Balad AFB in Iraq took and take care of the majority of combat trauma injuries and have probably not seen combat besides mortars but play a crucial role in serving this great country and our wounded warriors. Us hospital medics may not do everyday convoys or missions, our mission never ends. We stop bleeding, save limbs, save lives. We are the grunts best friend at their moment of need after sacrifice. Hooah.

 

many thanks to the Corpman and Medics of the services!!! Those guys are at the top of my list. MOst of them are as "gung ho" as it gets and they know thier job.

 

I did have to leave my wife 3 months after we got married for a 1 year hardship tour in Korea.

 

X2

 

Heres what i think it comes down to: if its a bunch of service members/veterans discussing it, then between them i think there are different levels of "respect" to be had. However, i dont think that civilians should ever differentiate between two people who served no matter what they did (job/deployment/combat action). agreed?

 

^Solid

 

I like that.

 

I have read the comments on this thread and I agree with the majority of posters. I never served in combat, came close, but wasn't to be. The only regret that I have is that I personally never saw combat. I missed the Viet Nam war at the front of my enlistment. I was sent to Thailand a month after the hostilities in Viet Nam ended, and missed the first Gulf War at the end of my enlistment. I say I regret not being involved in combat because I enlisted expecting to fight. I sometimes wonder how I would have handled being in the middle of a battle, but as a friend of mine said, "You would have done what you were trained to do." This is a personal issue and not meant to demean anyone not involved in combat because if I did that, then I demean myself.

 

Bosnia comes to mind with all those land mines.

 

I would have to say that you definitely deserve respect for being in the military and doing your job/career to the upmost levels. But there is a stigma within the military for those that have never served in true combat. Deployment on a FOB can be dangerous with IDF coming and etc. But leaving the wire is whole another story. As long as you are supporting the guys that leave the wire and ensuring that the gear they need is in good working order, their pay keeps coming in, and they have hot food waiting for them when they return, then it is all good. We all have a choice when we enter the military as far as what we want to do(ASAVB scores help though, but that is self imposed).

War is an ugly thing, but not the ugliest of things. The decayed and degraded state of moral and patriotic feeling which thinks that nothing is worth war is much worse. The person who has nothing for which he is willing to fight, nothing which is more important than his own personal safety, is a miserable creature and has no chance of being free unless made and kept so by the exertions of better men than himself.
--John Stewart Mill

 

I dont think it makes your service any less honorable. We live in a day with voluntary service, and everyone knows about the possibility of combat. I feel if you served, in any branch, any MOS, you should feel proud. I never saw combat, and I personally feel regret. I think every Marine joins hoping for combat. So I am personally dissapointed. But hey, its probably for the best.

 

This is almost the same argument with those who are out humping(not literally) the flightline vs. those who work in offices and such(referred to as noners).

 

Actually, I am a civilian now and I work at an Agency that deploys civilians all the time. That said, I happen to be one of the civilians lucky enough to have also been a Marine and know what I'm doing when I get to the field.

Several of my "civilian" buddies have been to the box several times.... many of us ASK and BEG to deploy again.

Let's not categorize ALL civilians that way.

Thanks.

And P.S. - Yes, I've been deployed several times both military and civilian.

 

I was a Marine, so I am a bit biased... But I'm not a fan of patches. IMHO.

 

your right, however when i was talking about civilians i didnt mean those who were contractors for DoD. i should have differentiated, theres obviously a difference between them and a person who has absolutely nothing to do with the conflict.

 

Definitely NO! I spent a good year directly supporting some things going on in Iraq while stateside. You know how early you have to get to work to be on the same schedule?!? I also suffered the worst injury out of anyone that deployed out of my group/squadron, and that was while preparing for deployment stateside and not in theater!

 

Check. Not all civs there are contractors... I know you probably know - but I'm saying it for those that read the thread and don't.

 

All military gets my salute. My 24 years come to an active end next Friday after my retirement ceremony. I'm very aware of the committment it takes to join the military for 2 years or 30. All get my respect equally.

However, if I'm in a line and a wounded vet is behind me, he's going to get to move in front of me in that line.

That said, cops and firemen I think share the same committment. We've all volunteered for something we know can be dangerous. The reasons vary, but for all there is a desire to serve others.