Non Combatant Roles In Vietnam War Essay

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During the Vietnam War, non combatant roles served as off the battlefield support squadrons helping the military function and according to “ My Future” about “85 percent of today’s enlisted military jobs are non-combatant” (My Future 1). Steven Ruud served as non combatant mechanical engineer during 1968-1970, eight weeks of his term were spent at Fort Campbell, Kentucky. Steven was assigned to the 1099th TC or Transportation Company Medium Boat Company which surrounded the port of Cat Lai. Ruud would be relieved of service in 1971 as a result from a cut in the sciatic nerve and a severe eye injury. It is important to honor those who served as non combatant forces because they maintained the naval craft to launch countermeasures, transported …show more content…
Non combatant roles arose to the thousands because of their ability to change the tide of battle. As an engineer on the 1099th Transportation Company, Steven remarked, “The minimum crew was three, but we usually had four. And again, there was one coxswain, or a ranking NCO a engineer or a seaman but sometimes you had two seamen or sometimes two engineers. You would never have more than one coxswain” (Steven 11). This quote emphasises the numerous roles that were filled during the war. This infers to military leaders believing that these roles held supreme importance in victory. Describing non combatant roles, the article “Non Combat Service” explains, “although sometimes looked upon as less important because of their lack of contact with the battlefield and training, are equally if not more vital to its success”. Relating to the Vietnam War, naval strikes along the controlled Vietcong coastlines would be incomplete and not sufficient without the work of engineers. This is without saying, the whole military would suffer as a whole from a lack of these support squadrons. During his time on the job, Steven always prepared his naval craft for surprise offensives to increase the US's chances of

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