Deploying in a noncombatant role comes with its own unique set of stressors and traumas that can't be discounted.

But they also can't reasonably be compared to actually being shot at, or getting your arm blown off by an IED, or losing an eye like Rep. Dan Crenshaw, etc. There really are two different tiers here, and I can't agree that non-combatant and combatant roles involve equal sacrifice. All life has stresses and traumas, whether you are in the military or not, but getting into combat where you can die is something on an entirely different level than anything else (with the exception of a few civilian careers like police officer).

And I say this as someone who had a brother in law in the Air Force who helped load missiles onto airplanes on aircraft carriers to be used in airstrikes in Iraq. Noble and important work to be sure, and we couldn't get the job done without him, and I'm not trying to take away anything from people who do it. We need those people, and they are certainly serving. BUT my brother in law was pretty much safe the whole time. He was way out to sea, and nothing Al-Quada in Iraq had could possibly reach him. Whereas there were guys like one of my high school friends (a marine) on the ground having to kick open door after door in Fallujah with absolutely no idea who or what was inside, and bullets flying at them from every direction. It's just not the same thing. My brother in law came back pretty much normal and has had a regular life ever since, not much different than if he'd worked as a civilian, but that classmate came back haunted and as I understand it from another classmate who was his girlfriend at the time, totally changed (and not for the better). And another classmate's brother (who was a few years older than me) got killed in combat by terrorists in Afghanistan, and that family was broken. Non-combat and combat are just not the same.