How many days of "actual combat" do you think an Infantryman deployed in support of OIF/OEF experiences over a year-long deployment?

SGT Justin Anderson — Sat, 12 Dec 2015 05:11:51 -0500

Response by SGT Justin Anderson made Dec 12 at 2015 5:12 AM

SGT Justin Anderson — Sat, 12 Dec 2015 05:12:18 -0500

Please keep your comments professional.

Response by PO1 William "Chip" Nagel made Dec 12 at 2015 5:35 AM

PO1 William "Chip" Nagel — Sat, 12 Dec 2015 05:35:33 -0500

Sounds a Bit Rough but nothing would surprise me.

Response by SSG Private RallyPoint Member made Dec 12 at 2015 9:26 AM

SSG Private RallyPoint Member — Sat, 12 Dec 2015 09:26:44 -0500

"Fun combat", "sh##ty combat", "sustained combat", "perceived threat combat"? I don't think I get this question

Response by SFC Private RallyPoint Member made Dec 12 at 2015 9:58 AM

SFC Private RallyPoint Member — Sat, 12 Dec 2015 09:58:57 -0500

As an infantryman I would say it depends on a few factors: does work at brigade HQ or is he in an infantry battalion? is he in a line company or HHC? If in a line company is he in a rifle platoon or HQ platoon? If in HHC is he in a specialty platoon like battalion mortars or the scout platoon, or does he work in the TOC with the battle staff? What's the role of the battalion that he's assigned to? What part of the conflict (any conflict (OIF, OEF, Kosovo, Bosnia, Desert Storm, Vietnam, WW's 1 & 2, etc) are they in (initial siege/surge, post siege and surge when the fighting is really starting to kick off, middle of the campaign where fighting is sustained, end of the conflict)? I've been deployed 6 times (1 to Bosnia, and 5 between Iraq and Afghanistan). Some were 12 months, some were 17 months. Each one had its ebb and flow of contact. Some of my deployment had more contact than others. Some contact was more significant (if you know what I'm getting at) than others. So I think, in my opinion, there's some factors that have to be looked at and answered when you ask "how many "actual combat days" does an infantryman have in a one year deployment?"

Response by 1LT William Clardy made Dec 12 at 2015 10:27 AM

1LT William Clardy — Sat, 12 Dec 2015 10:27:07 -0500

That really depends on what you consider to be "actual combat", doesn't it SGT Justin Anderson? Active, two-way firefights are obvious, but what about intermittent and inaccurate mortar and rocket attacks? How about mounted patrols on routes which are occasionally targeted with mines? Recon patrols with no contact? Perimeter guard in hostile (or at least not-friendly) territory? Blue-on-blue from a misdirected airstrike?

And, to keep things in perspective, what do you think that prior generations of infantrymen -- such as the guys who endured at places like Bellau Wood and Anzio -- would think of your definition of "actual combat"?

Response by SGM David W. Carr LOM, DMSM MP SGT made Dec 12 at 2015 12:10 PM

SGM David W. Carr LOM, DMSM MP SGT — Sat, 12 Dec 2015 12:10:31 -0500

Depends on unit and location. I think the intensity of the actual combat is much more pronounced.
But dealing with the day to day stress of hostile environment takes its own toll.

Response by Capt Richard I P. made Dec 12 at 2015 12:26 PM

Capt Richard I P. — Sat, 12 Dec 2015 12:26:36 -0500

The infantry experience weeks of boredom and seconds of terror. What is actual combat? Patrols with a chance of steeping on an IED and dying or losing limbs? Inbound small arms fire in the open? In a built up fighting position? Inbound indirect fire? What about inbound IDF while aboard a FOB? What if its a huge base like KAF or BAF?

Response by 1SG Private RallyPoint Member made Dec 12 at 2015 12:56 PM

1SG Private RallyPoint Member — Sat, 12 Dec 2015 12:56:03 -0500

If we are going to define combat as a TIC (troops in contact) and eliminate harassment such as mortars and the like, something like one day in ten is a pretty good estimate.
Where you are at matters a lot.
For example, during my same Surge tour, I saw no contact during my stint in Salah ad Din province in and around Tikrit, but it got pretty froggy when I moved south of Baqubah.

Response by MSG Private RallyPoint Member made Dec 12 at 2015 12:58 PM

MSG Private RallyPoint Member — Sat, 12 Dec 2015 12:58:40 -0500

365

Response by CSM Carl Cunningham made Dec 12 at 2015 7:05 PM

CSM Carl Cunningham — Sat, 12 Dec 2015 19:05:50 -0500

SGT Justin Anderson , I am not sure if you have read "On Killing" or not, but maybe that is a good start point for your question. I think you should look at how that has been determined in past wars. In WWII, the average Infantryman had 10 days of combat in a year period. Of course their were people with more, but it is an average. In Vietnam, the average Infantryman had 240 days of combat. Now, it was a different type of war and the Generals fought it a different way, so you have to really decide the variables you want to use to get an accurate answer.

Response by MAJ James Woods made Dec 12 at 2015 9:03 PM

MAJ James Woods — Sat, 12 Dec 2015 21:03:47 -0500

Why limit the question to infantrymen? My tankers saw as much combat in OIF and OEF; mounted and dismounted. Either way, being deployed shouldn't be measured by "actual combat".

Response by SSG Gerhard S. made Dec 12 at 2015 9:15 PM

SSG Gerhard S. — Sat, 12 Dec 2015 21:15:07 -0500

Rockets, Mortars, and dropped in MG round were a daily occurrence at Abu Ghraib 2004-2005. It depends what one defines as combat.

Response by CPT Private RallyPoint Member made Dec 13 at 2015 2:46 AM

CPT Private RallyPoint Member — Sun, 13 Dec 2015 02:46:09 -0500

In WWII, the average soldier experienced ten days of combat in a year's time. In Vietnam, that number was to about 260 days of combat in a year's time. Don't have the statistics for OIF/OEF. But I would argue that Vietnam vets still hold the title for most days of combat in a year.

Response by LTC Private RallyPoint Member made Dec 13 at 2015 11:43 AM

LTC Private RallyPoint Member — Sun, 13 Dec 2015 11:43:21 -0500

As everyone else has stated it depends how you define combat. While I was living on FOB Shank we caught 100 mortar attacks that hit the FOB in a 90 day period, for a total of over 150 rounds, most of which landed within 200 meters of where my unit lived and worked. I'm not sure I'd consider that combat but others would. I've also been on a deployment where I was on the road every day for over a month and was never attacked, is that combat? I'd once again I'd say no but other would say yes. I'd strongly encourage you to read LTC Grossman's books On Killing and On Combat.

Response by LTC Private RallyPoint Member made Dec 13 at 2015 3:40 PM

LTC Private RallyPoint Member — Sun, 13 Dec 2015 15:40:50 -0500

Define the term

Response by SGT Private RallyPoint Member made Dec 14 at 2015 9:39 AM

SGT Private RallyPoint Member — Mon, 14 Dec 2015 09:39:24 -0500

I am not all sure exactly what kind of answer you want, because it differs so much on what AO you are in and what is going on there at that time. I was in Iraq during the Surge... and 6 months out of that I was in Al Anbar province, not on a FOB but on a few OPs. We saw alot of action, friends more south didn't see that much... but again, depends on the time of year, and what is going on.

Response by SGT Private RallyPoint Member made Dec 14 at 2015 10:30 AM

SGT Private RallyPoint Member — Mon, 14 Dec 2015 10:30:51 -0500

I cannot speak for other however my site experienced 114 firefights in just over 3 months.

Response by LTC Private RallyPoint Member made Dec 14 at 2015 10:35 AM

LTC Private RallyPoint Member — Mon, 14 Dec 2015 10:35:16 -0500

I guess it all depends on how you define "actual combat". If you never fire your weapon, but you are on a FOB that gets hit by IDF every other day, does that count as being in combat?

Response by SPC Stephen Gerard made Dec 14 at 2015 10:15 PM

SPC Stephen Gerard — Mon, 14 Dec 2015 22:15:29 -0500

It's tough to really determine, because so many joes are in areas that aren't hit as much, which would bring down an average.
If you take into consideration every event that is worthy of a CIB, over a year-long deployment, that would probably narrow it down.
This would have to be scientific in nature. Any part of a scientific paper includes a methods section, so this is very important, and the reason for everybody's input on this.

I'll bite, though. Based on my standards of combat (CIB-worthy incident), I've been involved in about 20 over a one-year deployment. This includes accurate, inside-the-wire IDF, that landed very near my cot (2 occasions). The rest were an assortment of tower guard engagements on a crew-served gun, mounted and dismounted TIC's, and 1 legitimate IED scare. Every one would permit awarding a CIB.

Response by SFC Private RallyPoint Member made Dec 15 at 2015 1:33 AM

SFC Private RallyPoint Member — Tue, 15 Dec 2015 01:33:38 -0500

There are many factors to consider in order yo.answer that question. It has been said By a GO that one year of deployment could equal to 7 years of Military experience. Not sure how that's broken down but I trust the source who told me being a 2 star. So there must be a average calculating process/ Formular out there.

Response by CSM Private RallyPoint Member made Dec 15 at 2015 9:53 PM

CSM Private RallyPoint Member — Tue, 15 Dec 2015 21:53:17 -0500

I don't think infantrymen have done anything average in the last 14 yrs. our missions and operations as Infantrymen have changed so drastically and expanded to such an expanse of rolls that it would be unfair to affix an average to combat time experienced. That's completely ignoring the definition of combat that people and the Army seems to be confused about these days.

Response by SGT Justin Anderson made Dec 16 at 2015 1:18 PM

SGT Justin Anderson — Wed, 16 Dec 2015 13:18:26 -0500

I keep coming with an of 310 days based off of the fact "life and death". Granted every moment spent in country is life and death. Yes, like some those have said mortar attacks on a FOB are days of combat. Granted you may not have had hardly any firefights or attacks, it's averaged out amongst the entirety and not just one persons/units expiernce.

Response by SPC David S. made Dec 17 at 2015 10:51 AM

SPC David S. — Thu, 17 Dec 2015 10:51:36 -0500

Only takes one to get you killed.

Response by SGT Jose Perdelia-Torres made Dec 20 at 2015 9:52 PM

SGT Jose Perdelia-Torres — Sun, 20 Dec 2015 21:52:41 -0500

Of combat, less than a week for most deployments.

Response by MSgt Tim Parkhurst made Dec 21 at 2015 1:50 AM

MSgt Tim Parkhurst — Mon, 21 Dec 2015 01:50:09 -0500

That's an unaswerable question, unless you refine it to apply only to a specific unit or person. You've got way too many variables otherwise.

Response by SCPO Charles Thomas "Tom" Canterbury made Dec 22 at 2015 11:48 AM

SCPO Charles Thomas "Tom" Canterbury — Tue, 22 Dec 2015 11:48:15 -0500

That's difficult to determine. Most of the things that happened were too quick to even know how long it was. When you're under attack by insurgents - it's a quick down and done. It's a different kind of warfare in comparison to WWII and other wars - even Desert Storm.

Response by MSgt Private RallyPoint Member made Jan 12 at 2016 5:00 PM

MSgt Private RallyPoint Member — Tue, 12 Jan 2016 17:00:33 -0500

I'm sorry but I would say that just having to do patrols, guard duty, GACs, and all the other crap you deal with down range all takes a toll on the body and mind......then there is the is the ever present rocket attacks....we took over 60 in a very short period....now because we did not return fire it was not classified as "combat" for medals....but as to mental health and well being I assure it sure felt like combat and i'm pretty sure if I'd been hit Mom and Dad would've been told I died in "combat." Anyway what i'm getting at it the threat of being killed on a daily basis may not be "combat" by some terms but you know ....it probably should be.....not like there are rockets being fired at Ft Bragg.......anyway moving on and hope this makes sense.

Response by SPC Jacob Burns made Feb 25 at 2016 2:17 AM

SPC Jacob Burns — Thu, 25 Feb 2016 02:17:31 -0500

When I was in Afghanistan our COP was regularly attacked 2-5 times a day nearly every day for the 6 months I was there. Defining whether that would be combat or not depends, the Taliban were such shitty shots that most of us weren't worried about the mortars or RPGs. They fired an rpg at a fixed OP on the top of the mountain and missed. Now when we went out on patrols and regularly got ambushed is a different story.

Response by CWO3 Private RallyPoint Member made Dec 16 at 2016 3:26 PM

CWO3 Private RallyPoint Member — Fri, 16 Dec 2016 15:26:10 -0500

Considering that an enemy round travels at a couple thousand feet per second, even a heartbeat can be a lifetime, so even one day is one day too many.

Response by PVT Nicholas Hernandez made Jan 17 at 2017 11:35 PM

PVT Nicholas Hernandez — Tue, 17 Jan 2017 23:35:45 -0500

Depends on location, time and year. When I say time I mean season

Response by CPL Sharon Fahey made Jul 8 at 2017 12:54 AM

CPL Sharon Fahey — Sat, 08 Jul 2017 00:54:17 -0400

The real question is how many days are soldiers under a state of alert in a combat zone? Every day! Nobody likes being under a threat 24/7.

Response by SSG Alvin Amezquita made Jun 15 at 2018 7:30 PM

SSG Alvin Amezquita — Fri, 15 Jun 2018 19:30:14 -0400

I can tell u this much Sgt Justin Anderson. Everyone experiences combat differently as you can see from the various comments. I was in the sandbox from 04-05 and went on more than 300 missions in some of the most fucked areas and I can tell you I was engaged by the enemy more than 75 percent of the time outside the wire. And if by some miracle I stayed in at the FOB. I could set my watch on the amount of incoming we got. So any of the lucky ones that experienced boredom I don’t hate you bastards. Be glad someone upstairs was looking out for you.

Response by SFC Private RallyPoint Member made Jul 12 at 2018 6:57 PM

SFC Private RallyPoint Member — Thu, 12 Jul 2018 18:57:41 -0400

365

Response by SPC Marvin Roach made Oct 6 at 2019 1:28 PM

SPC Marvin Roach — Sun, 06 Oct 2019 13:28:26 -0400

As an infantry machine gunner with the First Infantry in Viet Nam who spent the entire year in combat
I would say I was in harms way at least 360 days. I took no R & R or leave of any kind because we were always so short of people.