Aviation Pilots and their crews provide powerful battlefield capabilities and upgrade our military’s capability to maneuver. Helicopter crews often enter hostile territories in midst of enemy fire to complete their transportation missions. Due to their impact in battle and number of crew involved they are a high target for enemy fire and thus one of the most dangerous military jobs.
Combat Engineers Combat engineers conduct risky construction and demolition projects in dangerous areas around the world. Whether clearing an oncoming road of IEDs (Improvised Explosive Devices) or destroying the obstacles of the opposing force along the way, combat engineers play a vital role in maneuvers and often work in hostile environments with time-sensitive missions. Since they often operate alongside ground forces, they face the same threats as infantry and are often called upon to fight alongside them.
Truck driving and vehicle transportation has become one of the most dangerous jobs in the army. Personnel and supply transportation has always been a dangerous operation throughout the history of warfare, but the increase in the use of IEDs in Iraq, Afghanistan, and other modern battlefields has made truck driving a high-risk career choice. Despite updates to vehicle design and armor capabilities, the danger within this profession and unfortunately the risk of many casualties remains.
Medic Medics move alongside forward operating forces and provide aid to those under fire. Despite being protected under the Geneva Convention, the current battles against nontraditional enemy forces rendersthis point somewhat null. Air strikes, mortar rounds, and artillery barrages place the highly trained medics at equal risk as the direct combat forces and gives this career choice a fair amount of risk.
It should come as no surprise that careers in the infantry would be one of the most dangerous. Historically, the most casualties in battle come within this job; however, this is largely due to sheer volume of troops that fill this honorable profession. The infantry are trained hard for combat and basically perform the common battle operations, from direct fights with the enemy to aiding friendly forces in peril. If the infantry calls your name, you’ll join the long line of brave troops in one of the most dangerous jobs in the military.
The military’s bomb squad is a profession immersed in danger. Military EOD teams are tasked with the already dangerous job of clearing minefields and dealing with faulty dud munitions, but they conduct these stressful missions in hazardous war zones. The combination of actual job tasks and operational environments makes the EOD profession one of the most dangerous military jobs.
-Rescue swimmers face peril in a number of dangerous ways that heightens the risk involved with this difficult military occupation. Besides the fact it is one of the most strenuous training programs, if completed, rescue swimmers face the possibilities of harsh conditions on all fronts. Rescue swimmers operate in all weather and war-related conditions, facing a range of icy water temperatures or hot enemy fire, and perform very technical saves often against the winds and waves of Mother Nature.
Primarily the reserve of infantry units (although additional branches or cap badges, such as the artillery, engineers and cavalry, can also fulfill this role), riflemen act as the literal boots on the ground of any military operation. While riflemen often receive support from tanks and aircraft, they ultimately have to rely on their own skills and training to complete their missions. They know that every time they go into battle, they are putting their lives on the line, and yet they do it willingly, because they believe in what they are fighting for.
- Like their infantry brethren, the Cavalry has long been associated with inherent risk and personal danger. Unlike the infantry, the Cavalry pushes far into enemy territory to conduct reconnaissance or surveillance operations. They operate in much smaller force size and rely on their speed and adaptability to complete their missions. The nature of their work often places them in conflict heavily outnumbered, fighting against enemy forces in unsupported territory.
- When your job entails dealing with highly volatile and often crudely manufactured explosive devices, then it’s not difficult to see why EOD experts are on this list. Every service has its own variant of EOD technicians, but each is subject to the same level of danger. Aside from the incendiary devices that they have to disarm, recover or destroy, they are also exposed to the same small-arms and IED threats as everybody else.
Known by various titles depending on their branch and service, forward observers (or “pathfinders”) are tasked — as their title suggests — with going into hostile territory and identifying targets, locations and intelligence for use in operations.In addition, pathfinders often have to work in difficult and dangerous terrain, such as mountains or dense forests. Despite the dangers they face, pathfinders play an essential role in military operations.
In a similar vein to forward observers, cavalry scouts and recon units tread unchartered ground when it comes to conflict zones. They are usually at the tip of any advance and, therefore, meet the brunt of whatever resistance is lying in wait for them. Aside from the obvious immediate danger that this role presents, recon units often spend extended amounts of time at the sharp end without any relief. For example, the 1st Reconnaissance Battalion of the United States Marine Corps — immortalized in Evan Wright’s Generation Kill — spent three months as the spearhead unit during the 2003 invasion of Iraq.